Recently, Computerworld journalist Robert L. Mitchell undertook an interesting challenge. Using free or very low cost search tools, Mitchell attempted to gather as much information as he could about himself online. After weeks of exhaustive search, he was able to find his full legal name, address, Social Security number, his spouse’s name and her Social Security number, the price he paid for his home, mortgage documents, and a copy of his signature, and more.

From the article:

She had me at hello … or just about. Our conversation had barely started when privacy activist Betty Ostergren interrupted me to say that she had found my full name, address, Social Security number and a digital image of my signature on the Web.

I had set out to discover just how much information I could find about myself online, and Ostergren, who runs the Virginia Watchdog Web site, was my very first call. If this was what could be uncovered in just a few minutes, what else would I find? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

What information is available about you in cyberspace? Where does it come from? What risks does it present and what, if anything, can you do to protect yourself? To answer those questions I decided to use my own identity, Robert L. Mitchell, a national correspondent at Computerworld, as my research subject.

Starting with the information Ostergren had turned up about me, I spent a few weeks combing through more than two dozen public and private resources on the Web and visiting many other Web sites to build a dossier on myself. I conducted both free and paid searches. I contacted a private investigator for tips on my investigation. And I spoke with data aggregators and privacy experts.

At seven pages, the article is lengthy, but it’s definitely worth checking out the whole thing. There is also a worthwhile companion piece that details steps individuals can take to manage their “information footprint” online. Of course, for maximum control of your online identity, you should check out Reputation.com’s suite of industry-leading privacy and reputation management products.