subject: Is Your Paranoia Justified? [print this page] Is Your Paranoia Justified? Is Your Paranoia Justified?
So the natural thing in this age is to engage in the available technology. This is harmless at the most. The problem is that the general public voluntarily places very personal pieces of themselves out there with this tech, without ever wondering how it works, how it is received, or who besides friends and family can see it. The world is composing Tweets, creating Flicker streams, making Facebook groups, checking in with FourSquare, and posting blogs with WordPress. All the while they don't stop to think that maybe someone who isn't their "friend" or "subscriber" could search for and view all this.
Being worried about whether someone is out there looking for you is a legitimate concern. The internet has been a glorious tool for the sharing of information. Gauging how that information is regulated and who gets to view it have become issues. While the original purpose of search engines was positive, anyone can search and find info about anything, sometimes the subject of the search is a person and the intentions of the user are less that well regarded.
The privacy settings of most sites will work as preliminary defense. There is still a wealth of information that can be found from public records sites. An ex could find out where you moved to, if you have remarried, and how much you pay in property taxes. If it is a employer, they could find out what you blogged about your old place of employment or that you "liked" those songs about smoking marijuana and "poppin' bottles".
Sharing, liking, checking in, and posting are all being done from smartphone apps. Users don't even think twice. Then there are those who regulate their lives online. They don't put any sensitive information on the web. The take care to keep both their identity and their lives private. Still, as stated earlier, public records can still divulge a bit of information about someone. In these cases, there is no defense against such searches for your info. The only defense then becomes a good offense. Certain reverse searches can be conducted to see just who have been looking for information about you. If you are worried that there are people out there trying to gain information about you, visit WhosSearchingForMe.com to get your own search started.
