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I’m sure you’re aware that the Internet is constantly gaining new information and making it all available to the masses. But did you know it’s also collecting, storing and sharing information about you?
You’re probably familiar with the “people finder” websites like Whitepages.com where you can type in someone’s name and get their address (and sometimes their phone number). But it really goes much further than that.
There are a plethora of ways that your name and some potentially derogatory information about you can end up online, available to anyone who knows how to do a basic Internet search.
For example, if someone sues you for some reason that fact could be posted on a news website or discussed on Facebook, X or some other social media site. And once that info is out there it’s likely going to be there for good. And even if you win your lawsuit the first thing someone will probably see regarding you is the original post(s) saying you were being sued, not the end result.
Another example: Let’s say you’re going through a nasty divorce and your soon-to-be ex (or their friends and family members) start accusing you of all manner of dishonorable things on social media. You might never even know about it so you might never have an opportunity to tell your side of the story and set the record straight.
And here’s yet another example: Let’s say your employer accuses you of stealing from the company and you end up getting fired, arrested and charged with a crime. That information will be recorded and become a public record, and it’ll stay online even if you are ultimately found innocent of the charges.
Yes, I realize those are extreme examples of things that will never happen to most innocent people. But those types of situations do arise, and they aren’t rare.
Of course there are numerous other ways you can be mentioned online in a derogatory way that are more embarrassing than anything else, but those are things you would likely want to know about as well.
The thing is, many people go months, or even years without ever knowing bad things have been said about them online. If that happens to you and you don’t know about it you can’t rebut the derogatory information or take steps to have it taken down altogether.
The flip-side of the above is true as well. Let’s say people are talking about you in a positive way, discussing some good deed you have performed in the community or some award you have have won. Wouldn’t it be nice to know about that as well?
Luckily, there’s a very simple way to get notified by email every time you are mentioned online (whether in a good way or bad). All you have to do is set up a simple Google Alert for your name. Here’s how to do it:
Note: You will need a Google account in order to set up an alert. If you currently use Gmail or any other Google service you already have a Google account. If not you will need to create one.
1 – Go to the Google Alerts page on Google’s website:
2 – Type your full name (First Middle Last) + your city or town. For example, someone named John Henry Doe who lives in Topeka, Kansas you would enter this:
John Henry Doe + Topeka, Kansas
It’s important to add the city or town because there could be (and likely will be) multiple people who share your exact name.
3 – Click Create Alert and follow the prompts as they appear.
4 – Repeat the steps above to create an alert for any other names you have been known to go by. For example, if your full name was John Henry Doe but you were commonly known as “Johnny” you would set up the following alert:
Johnny Doe + Topeka, Kansas
The same thing applies if you frequently go by you initials:
J.H. Doe + Topeka, Kansas
Once you set up an alert for your name you’ll receive an email every time you are mentioned online (as long as you were mentioned in a public forum that Google’s bot can crawl, which is the vast majority of places on the Internet).
Every alert you receive will include a link to the page containing the mention. Just click on the link and your browser will take you right to that page.
Bottom line: Hopefully you’ll go your entire life without ever having someone say something derogatory about you online, but there’s a very real chance that they might. And if that ever happens you’ll be glad you took a few moments to set up an alert for your name.
You’ll also be glad you have an alert in place if someone ever brags about you or discusses you in a positive light.
Bonus tip: Want to protect your privacy online and remain as anonymous as you possible can? Check this out. (#ad)
After you have your Google Alert(s) set up you can can relax and take it easy. This relaxing video can help.