Ask the experts

Answer: 

Unfortunately we do not handle the removal of court documents or other public records from the Internet. In your situation, the best choice is our ReputationDefender service. ReputationDefender pushes down unwanted content and replaces it with new, positive information about you created by our team of professional writers and editors. 

Answer: 

Appearances matter, especially online. The Internet is an infinite space and it’s getting harder to distinguish people online. Our MyReputation service can help you establish a distinct online presence and help you monitor your improvement. With our services, you will be able to own your identity online and dominate the first page of your search results for your name. 

Answer: 

While we will be unable to remove your name from the document, but we do provide a solution to dramatically reduce your name and personal information from the Internet. Right now, it’s too easy to find personal information on the Internet. Our MyPrivacy service will scan the web, people searching sites, and online database for your personal identifying information and contact these companies to remove your name, age, and address. 

Answer: 

MyPrivacy allows you to remove your personal information from many of the most popular people-search databases and data brokers across the Internet. These websites sell or give away your personal data without your expressed permission, making it accessible to anyone with an interest in finding out sensitive information about you and your family. 

Answer: 

Feel free to give us a call at 888-720-9980 and we will be able to give you a unique code to receive a 30 day free trial! 

Answer: 

We do sometimes have success in removing unwanted content on behalf of our clients. The approach we use varies depending on the type of site or content involved, so we’ll need to see the specific site under consideration before providing you with a more detailed answer. Please give us a call at 888-720-9980 so we can have a specialist analyze the best solution for you. 

Answer: 

Our MyPrivacy service can remove private information from many online people finder sites, as well as the from the sources that they draw their information from. This makes it vastly more difficult for someone to find information about you. We can also provide manual removal instructions for some of the sources that do not honor our automated removal requests.

Here are the top 10 most popular people-search sites. We remove information from all of them:

www.phonebook.com
www.peoplesmart.com
www.addresses.com
www.emailfinder.com
www.freephonetracer.com
www.phonedetective.com
www.411.com
www.archives.com
www.spokeo.com
www.whitepages.com

Answer: 

Your password is the first line of defense against hackers and other online criminals. There are several tricks to building a strong password. One option is to combine letters, numbers, and symbols using a mnemonic device. For instance, the phrase “I, Bob Smith, was born at Mercy Hospital in 1966” becomes the password “iBSwb@MHi66”. 

Another option is to create an unusual phrase consisting of three or four unrelated words. For example, “Lemon Bowling Ball Parade.” Passwords like this are easy for you to remember, but hard for hackers to guess.

You should use a different password for each one of your online accounts. If you use the same password for all of your accounts, only one of them needs to be compromised to put your entire online identity at risk.

Answer: 

People-search websites each operate a little differently, but, generally speaking, you can find instructions for opting out of the specific site by locating the Terms of Service.

People-search websites and information databases make money by selling your personal information online. Because they want to keep making money, they’ll make it difficult to remove your personal information. It’s not uncommon for a people-search company to instruct that you send a faxed request or even a copy of your state ID to remove your personal information.

Worse yet, removing your information once doesn’t guarantee that it won’t end up back on that (or another) website in the future. Because these companies get the data from a variety of public and semi-public sources, it’s likely that your name will reappear when they re-index their database.

Answer: 

People-search websites and information databases get their information from a few different places: public records, semi-public online information (like your social networking updates) and private records that they buy. Thanks to modern technology, it’s easy for sites like this to collect and sell your data, which is why you should work to remove your information from the Web whenever possible.

Answer: 

Like an arrest record, disciplinary hearings are often difficult to remove from the Web. This is especially frustrating for doctors, lawyers and other professionals who are cleared of any misconduct.

The best way to deal with an outdated disciplinary hearing notice is to focus on creating new positive content that showcases your expertise. If you regularly update your blog and social networking accounts, Google will eventually recognize the new information over the old record and move it off of page one.

Answer: 

Yes — it’s not only legal, but it’s common practice. A 2009 Microsoft survey showed that 79% of hiring managers in the United States admitted to researching candidates online before making a hiring decision and an additional 70% of hiring managers said that they had actually rejected candidates based on information they’d found. There are even companies that specialize in online background checks.

Answer: 

There are a lot of online reputation management companies out there, but not all of them are as good as they claim. The best way to tell if an online reputation management company is legitimate is to do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions. A good reputation management consultant will be honest and up front about the kind of service you need.

Answer: 

Online impersonation is a serious problem and can be hugely damaging to your reputation. If you’ve been hacked, immediately change the passwords on all of your online accounts and work with your email provider to lock out the hacker. You should also send out a note to your friends and followers that you’ve been hacked and warn them to avoid answering any messages from someone pretending to be you.

Answer: 

Maybe, but it depends on your specific situation. If the images have gone viral, it’s virtually impossible to remove them from the Web. If the images are only hosted on one or two websites, it may be possible to request to have them taken down.

If you are the one who took the photo, you may be able to take them down with a copyright claim, but you should consult with an attorney to determine whether you’re the legal owner of the image.

Answer: 

Yes. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 grants broad immunity to websites that host objectionable content. Originally, this law was enacted to keep Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like AOL from being held criminally liable for content posted by members.

As the Internet has evolved, however, the law has been interpreted to protect virtually any website or Internet service. The broad immunity afforded by this law is partly responsible for the rise of gossip websites and other havens for anonymous online bullying.

Answer: 

If you share a name with someone who has an awful online reputation, their negative Google results can be just as big a problem for you. The best way to separate yourself from your digital doppelganger is to focus on proactively building your online reputation. Sign up for LinkedIn, Twitter and other social networking websites that have a place for a professional biography. Use these bios to tout your professional expertise and separate yourself from the person who shares your name.  

You should also consider differentiating your name in some way, like using your middle initial or a nickname.  

Answer: 

Short answer: A lot. Whether it’s a hiring manager, a business partner, a new customer, or even a potential date, its common practice to look up information about people on Google before you meet them. If Google search results give you a terrible online reputation, it could mean losing business, missing out on a job opportunity, and much more.

Answer: 

First, think about how you’d like to look online. Then, do a Google search for your name. Compare your ideal results to how your actual ones and that will give you a goal to strive toward.  

Some easy steps you can take to start building a positive online image include making a LinkedIn profile, joining Twitter, starting a free blog and creating a personal website. Add a brief professional-sounding biography to each of your online accounts and make sure to use your real name as your online handle.  

With time, your social media accounts and personal websites will begin to appear in Google search results for your name. Keep checking Google to make sure your reputation continues to improve.

Answer: 

If the rumors are affecting your reputation online, it’s important to set the record straight right away. However, if the rumors aren’t ranking highly in Google, it might be better to ignore them. Sometimes, responding directly to the rumors can give them more strength and make them rank higher in Google search results.  

If there isn’t an immediate threat, focus instead on promoting positive content online about your business so that the rumors don’t ever make their way to the first page of Google search results. 

Answer: 

You might not be able to stop the attacks, especially if they’re anonymous, but you can take steps to limit the potential reputation damage they could cause. Maintaining an active social media presence for your business (including profiles on websites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube) can help give you a layer of protection from online attacks and also give you the tools to promote positive, truthful information about your business. 

Answer: 

Divorces and separations are complicated at the best of times, but when you factor in the Internet and the immediacy of social networking websites, things can get ugly in a hurry.

First, you should block your ex from contacting you on Facebook and other social networking websites. You should also try to remove your personal information from people-search databases. If you think you’re being illegally harassed, you might also consider contacting local law enforcement. 

Answer: 

You could contact the newspaper directly and ask them to remove the article, but it’s unlikely that they’ll be of any help. A better option is to create new positive content about yourself online. Over time, you can move the newspaper article off of the first page of Google, greatly decreasing its impact.

Answer: 

Arrest records are next to impossible to remove, because they’re considered public records. The better bet is to move the arrest record down in Google results by creating new content that presents a more accurate and up-to-date reflection of you. 

Answer: 

The first step is to determine whether the review is accurate. If there really is a problem with your business, you should work to fix it, or you can bet that someone else will leave a similar negative review in the future.

As for improving your search results, your best bet is to try replacing the negative review with content that you control. For instance, you could set up a Facebook Fan Page for your business, or create a Twitter account. You could also solicit positive reviews from some of your regular clients.