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A good portion of the internet is not accessible through search engines like Google or Bing. Some of these are obvious: your webmail client, your social media accounts, your online banking accounts, your bank statements, content hidden behind paywalls, and the like. Others are deindexed by search engines intentionally. And still, others are, by design, not indexed. This is the deep web.

The dark web is a subset of websites where (often) illegal activities take place. If you don’t know how to remove personal information from Google searches, it’s possible that data broker sites have collected and sold your personal details. The buyer might have posted your name, address, and other personally identifiable data on the dark web.

What Is the Dark Web Used for?

The dark web is often hidden behind encryptions and sometimes can only be accessed by particular browsers. Behind this veil of secrecy, drugs, stolen credit card numbers, personal information, and more are bought and sold.

One of the most famous sites on the dark web, Silk Road, caused quite a stir. The founder, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for running the criminal enterprise, an illegal online drug emporium. Other marketplaces on the dark web have guns for sale and murders for hire. Hackers and hacking groups offer their services via the dark web, as well. Ironically, some of these sites instead infect your computer with trojan horses or backdoors, allowing hackers access to your computer and private data.

Who Uses the Dark Web?

It is worth noting not all sites in the dark web are used for illegal activity, but many are. It can be used to bypass state censorship, conduct reporting in repressive countries, or blow the whistle on companies or crime syndicates. Anyone with a need for a high degree of anonymity might use the dark web to protect themselves.

Browsers such as Tor are needed to access the encrypted sites, which can slow down browsing. It’s also hard to find much of the dark web, as the point is to stay secret. Some sites require credentials to view at all. Some forums, however, exist solely and simply to express opinions that might otherwise be unpopular.

Should I Be Worried?

If your data has been part of a leak, then yes, you might have reason to be worried. Your credit card numbers are potentially being bought and sold on the dark web. These can be combined with information legitimately purchased from data broker sites to gain enough personal details to use the credit card with little hassle. If you have not already, you should remove personal information from Google to thwart data broker sites. Data broker sites can be indiscriminate in who they sell data to, which means your personal information could then end up on the dark web. Luckily, lists of credit card numbers can be outdated. If you are still worried, request a new card to update information, and hire a service to remove your private details from data broker sites.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe’s efficient, effective internet privacy strategies have set a high standard in online privacy and information security. Their Boston-based expert privacy team removes your personal details from data broker sites using proprietary technology as well as their and deep knowledge of opt-out and privacy policies. DeleteMe can help with information removal from Whitepages and over 30 other data broker sites—they’ve already successfully completed more than 20 million customer opt-outs to date. A subscription with DeleteMe ensures your personal, private data will stay private year-round.

Learn more about keeping your information private at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://bit.ly/2U5MXyB

You’ve won the lottery. You’re the subject of a meme. That tweet you made without a second thought went viral, or your YouTube channel suddenly picked up steam. However it happened, you are now faced with sudden fame or infamy, thrust into the spotlight. Fame has many lovely advantages, but it also comes with a lot of unwanted attention.

Soon, the emails and private messages will start. Some will sing your praises, and others will yell at you. If you’re not careful, people might even be able to find your phone number and address. You will need to learn how to remove personal information from Google, but what else should you know about surviving your sudden celebrity status and 15 minutes or more of fame?

Remove Personal Information Online

To protect your private life, you’ll want to remove personal information from Google searches. Otherwise, people may easily find your address, phone number, and more. This is the first step in regaining what still exists of your privacy. Otherwise, expect random calls and people gawking at your home around the clock. If your personal details remain online, data broker sites could collect and sell your information indiscriminately. Consider investing in a service that specializes in removing your private data for you, contacting data broker sites on your behalf.

Learn to Say “No”

Fame tends to bring out “long lost cousins.” People will ask for money. They will want to be seen around you. Some will try to take advantage of you, offering you a chance to invest in their company. Set your personal boundaries and learn to say “no.” You can be polite but be firm. In interviews, you do not have to answer personal questions. Many who are famous prefer to keep their private lives private and refuse to answer those questions.

Form an Inner Circle

You need friends who you can trust, ideally friends that you knew before your rise to fame. These people keep you grounded, act as sounding boards, and can help you get out of the celebrity scene when it becomes overwhelming. Remember, these need to be people you trust not to leak information or share your personal details. Stick to the people you absolutely know you can rely on.

Be Kind to Fans

Despite your best efforts, if you become famous, you will almost certainly be approached by fans. Someone tweets which restaurant you are eating at and a few people will seek you out. It comes with being famous. Be kind and empathetic. You don’t need to be entirely on-brand. They are likely excited to see you and acting aloof can instead hurt your image. This is especially true of young fans who might look up to you. Set boundaries with your personal space and time, but be kind, even when you have to refuse a request.

Comb Through Social Media

It might be best to delete your Facebook account. Barring this, make it private, consider changing your name, and remove any personal details. Go back through past posts and tweets on social media and delete anything that could be considered even marginally offensive. Some services, such as TweetDelete, will allow you to delete old tweets en masse. Old jokes can come back to haunt you, as they did with movie director James Gunn. A decade-old tweet almost cost him a job directing a major Marvel movie. He was reinstated months later, but the damage to his reputation was done.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe’s efficient, effective internet privacy strategies have set a high standard in online privacy and information security. Their Boston-based expert privacy team removes your personal details from data broker sites using proprietary technology as well as their and deep knowledge of opt-out and privacy policies. DeleteMe can help with information removal from Whitepages and over 30 other data broker sites—they’ve already successfully completed more than 20 million customer opt-outs to date. A subscription with DeleteMe ensures your personal, private data will stay private year-round.

Learn more about keeping your information private at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://bit.ly/2Zi8Sb7

The internet is forever. It’s a key point your family should know when trying to keep their information online safe. It can be a hassle to remove personal information from Google. While it’s better not to leak any personal details online in the first place, sometimes it can’t be helped, or is already too late. These tips will help you secure your family’s information and keep yourself and your children safe online.
Remove Information From Data Broker Sites

How do advertisers create targeted ads? Buying data from data broker sites is often the answer. Data broker sites collect and sell any personal details they can find on you. Your internet browsing habits, your address, and the name of your family members are among the tidbits they collect. Often, this is picked up by Google. It’s essential to know how to remove personal information from Google, usually done by removing your private information from data broker sites. You can do this yourself, though it is often an involved and frustrating process, or hire a service to do it for you.

Use a Private Browser for Safe Browsing

Websites often require an agreement to use tracking cookies to view their site. Other sites install them without your knowledge. Either way, they can track your browsing habits, collecting data on what you or your kids are doing online. Using a private browser like Epic or Brave browsers can stop these websites from tracking you. For additional security, a VPN can prevent cookies, conceal your location, and obscure your browsing habits.

Don’t Share Personal Information

The entire family must know not to overshare online, whether it’s through social media or playing a video game. Never give out full names, addresses, ages, or Social Security numbers. Social media accounts should have limited information, and privacy settings should allow only direct friends to see posts and profiles. Also don’t “check-in” to businesses or places on social media, providing data on your location and interests. The less personal or identifying information on social media, the better.

Be Careful with Blogs

Blogging has taken on a new form in recent years. Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and a multitude of other social media platforms all provide outlets for posting thoughts and photos. In addition, dedicated blogging sites like Tumblr, WordPress, and Medium are often used to share very personal thoughts and feelings. While this might improve your children’s writing and photography skills, it can also be a goldmine of information. Teach your kids to be careful with blogging, even if they believe their thoughts to be private on a site.

Read Privacy Policies

Privacy policies are long, dry reads. They detail how a site controls and collects information about you, and if it is sold or given to third parties. These policies also specify what measures the site takes to prevent personal information from leaking. If a site’s policy does not make sense or you can’t understand it, do not use the site. It might be worth considering adding parental controls to block children from using the site as well.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe leads the industry in data privacy and online security. Boston-based DeleteMe’s expert privacy team uses proprietary technology and innovation to remove your personal information from data broker sites that sell it. So far, they have achieved more than 20 million successful customer opt-outs. DeleteMe has earned a reputation for its efficient and effective internet security strategies, providing cutting-edge tools for securing data privacy and consumer security. They will help with information removal from Whitepages and over 30 other data broker sites, as well as search engines like Google.

Keep your personal information private with DeleteMe at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: http://bit.ly/2GFp7nV

Your digital footprint is all of the information about you found online. This footprint includes your name, address, social media posts, content you have shared, IP address, and even your browsing history and personal details like your mother’s maiden name. This information can be posted by you or about you. Although your digital footprint can be useful when job hunting, proving you are a real person with real experience there are definite risks to such an easily found wealth of information about you online.

If you are trying to go off the grid, regain a bit of online anonymity, or help prevent identity theft, it’s a good idea to minimize your digital footprint. Knowing how to remove personal information from Google is only the first step.

Delete or Deactivate Accounts

Deleting your Facebook and Twitter accounts is an obvious first step, but be sure to delete accounts on shopping sites like Amazon, Target, or Old Navy as well. Don’t forget old social media sites like Tumblr and Myspace.

Remove Information From Data Broker Sites

To remove personal information from Google, you need to know the source of that information. These are often data broker sites like Whitepages and Spokeo that collect and sell your personal information. This private data includes everything an advertiser or identity thief might want, from your name and address to your online activities. You can deal with them yourself one by one, but you’ll have to brush up on your knowledge of privacy policies and laws. Since their business relies on that data, they won’t make it easy to remove. Alternatively, you could pay a service to do it for you, which will save you time and ensure your private details stay that way.

Increase Privacy on Accounts

If you can’t live without social media, at least lock down the privacy of your accounts. Change your privacy settings so only your friends can see your content and be careful what you post. It’s not a bad idea to remove your phone number and obscure your location and age.

Use a VPN

The most secure option for browsing the internet is a Virtual Private Network or VPN. These paid services will bounce your browsing requests through a private network of different locations, obfuscating your location and IP address. Cookies won’t be collected, either. Think of it as a tunnel to the website you are visiting, shielding your private information. This is opposed to riding down the information superhighway with your personal data in the open. The Tor browser serves similar functions, offering you internet browsing anonymity.

Use a Private Browser

Using a private browser like Epic or Brave won’t track your internet habits, increasing your privacy and security. They will not track your search history and cookies will not be collected.

Delete Old Email Accounts

Your last step should be deleting old email accounts. Do this after taking all the other steps as some require an email. It’s not wise to keep any old email accounts unless you need to keep one for work purposes. In that case, remove as much identifying information as possible and unsubscribe from mailing lists. You can also get a disposable email address to use instead of your main account. A fake account you can utilize when an email is required can keep your real inbox clean and safe from advertiser profiling.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe leads the industry in data privacy and online security. Boston-based DeleteMe’s expert privacy team uses proprietary technology and innovation to remove your personal information from data broker sites that sell it. So far, they have achieved more than 20 million successful customer opt-outs. DeleteMe has earned a reputation for its efficient and effective internet security strategies, providing cutting-edge tools for securing data privacy and consumer security. They will help with information removal from Whitepages and over 30 other data broker sites, as well as search engines like Google.

Keep your personal information private with DeleteMe at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://bit.ly/32Y1qRu

It’s no secret that there’s a vast, ambitious, creative, and cunning collection of cybercriminals, hackers, thieves, and scammers who seem to haunt those on the internet. Many are looking for weaknesses to exploit and opportunities to steal peoples’ information and money. Thankfully, there are many steps people can take to avoid cybercriminals and protect themselves against scams. One step is to keep your information secure and private, including learning how to remove personal information from Google searches.

Unfortunately, there’s an insidious collection of scams and cons that prey on otherwise shrewd and cautious internet users in the most devious and cynical way—by appealing to their decency. The following describes a few of these scams and how to avoid falling victim to a costly scam for trying to do the right thing.

Sick Baby, Sick Pet, and Troubled Vet Hoaxes

The “sick baby” and “sick pet” hoaxes are far older than the internet but first spread online via email. Nowadays they often target social media platforms and crowdfunding sites. The premise is simple: you are contacted, typically by a friend, about a sick child or sick pet that needs a donation for a desperately-needed medical treatment. The message is almost always accompanied by a moving photo of the sick youngster or pet. While these messages may be sent by a friend’s hacked account, they can also be sent by friends who’ve been fooled by the scam. The name of the child or pet is sometimes real—the information and photos have often been stolen from the parent or pet owner originally posting it. (All the more reason to remove personal information from Google searches.)

The “troubled vet” scams work in a similar way. A tragic story about a homeless or otherwise troubled veteran is shared and donations are requested for their care, treatment, and recovery. Unfortunately, the money donated goes directly into the pocket of the scammer. They can be less obvious, however. For instance, a scammer can simply be requesting a “like” or share, or claiming that for every like, share, comment, or reposting, the social media platform will donate money. But that’s virtually never the case and those likes, shares, and comments aren’t harmless. When it’s a hoax, those actions are driving traffic and often personal information directly to scammers.

Password Security Question Phishing

Have you ever seen those posts on social media that start with something like “what’s your superhero name?” Superhero could be substituted for anything—celebrity, adventurer, mafia, royal wedding name, and so on. Often you’ll be given a list of information to use to create your name, like the street you grew up on, the name of one of your grandparents, or the name of your pet. Sound familiar? That’s because these are common password security and recovery questions. A cybercriminal can use that information to reset a password and effectively lock you out of an account while gaining access to it themselves. Some of these posts can be harmless if they’re just asking for details such as the item to your left and the color of your shirt. But watch out for the ones that aren’t harmless.

How to Avoid Being Scammed

One of the easiest ways to avoid being taken in by one of these scams is to do a little research. Contact the friend requesting the click or donation and ask them if they actually sent it. If your friend has been taken in by a scam, a Google search is often sufficient to debunk it. Search for the name of the child, pet, or vet (or whatever cause is being solicited) by itself or with the word “scam” after it. Thankfully, these scams are often identified quickly, and a search can help reveal the truth.

Additionally, you should never provide personal information in response to emails or social media solicitations. Never providing personal information in response to any unsolicited messages is a solid rule of thumb to follow on the internet (and offline too). If someone shares one of these hoaxes to your profile, definitely don’t share it, and if your friend actually sent it, immediately let them know of its illegitimacy and potential for harm.

To avoid having your profile hacked—and becoming an unwitting accomplice to these sorts of schemes—be sure to deactivate any old, unused profiles or email addresses to reduce your risk. You should also contract with a company that removes your personal information from data broker sites and Google search results. Getting as much of your private, personal information off of the internet as possible will help keep it that way, and out of the hands of those with ill-intent.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe is a standard-setting innovator within the data privacy and online security industry. Headquartered in Boston, DeleteMe’s reputation for efficient, effective internet security strategies has been established by their expert privacy team’s proprietary technology and cutting-edge innovation. Since their founding, DeleteMe has accomplished over 10 million successful consumer opt-outs. To ensure superior data security and privacy through personal information removal from Whitepages and 30-plus other data broker sites, choose DeleteMe. A DeleteMe subscription will make sure your personal information stays private year-round.

Learn about everything DeleteMe can do for your privacy and security, at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://bit.ly/2YdpFbu

Identity theft can have broad and far-reaching implications on your personal, financial, and professional life—immediate ramifications and longer-term consequences. It’s an incredibly distressing, disruptive, invasive, and often destructive event that no one should have to deal with. For those unfamiliar with the nightmare of identity theft, the following describes some of the ways in which it can continue to disrupt and even sabotage a victim’s life well after the event itself. The good news is that there are tools and strategies you can use to increase your privacy and remove personal information from Google that could otherwise be used by identity thieves.

The Money Lost and Credit Consequences

No doubt the most common, well-known, and immediately detrimental consequence of having your identity stolen is the financial cost. Identity thieves have a number of underhanded strategies they use to steal from you, including:

● Accessing and emptying checking and savings accounts.

● Opening accounts to move money to and overdraft.

● Running up charges on credit cards and making online purchases in your name.

● Stealing from retirement savings.

● Taking out loans in your name.

● Manipulating and stealing from investment accounts.

Identity theft and these actions can threaten all of your assets, directly and indirectly. In addition to the immediate financial costs, many of these events can negatively impact your credit score, affecting your ability to access loans and credit. Removing these events from your credit score can be very difficult and paying professionals to clean up the mess can prove an additional expense.

The Time Lost to Fixing Identity Theft

Your time can be at least as valuable as your financial assets. Undoing the damage done by an identity thief can mean dozens of hours of work, hassle, and frustration. It often involves working with your bank and other financial institutions, credit card companies, the IRS, and the Social Security Administration if your social security number was compromised. You may need professional legal and financial or tax assistance as well. You should be able to spend your free time doing other things—not dealing with identity theft.

Emotional Consequences and Reputation Damage

Learning how to remove personal information from Google searches can save you a whole lot of grief if you’re able to do so and avoid having identity thieves use this information to steal your identity in the first place. But if you can’t prevent it and the damage has been done, there’s another cost in addition to financial and time: emotional cost. As bad as the anger and frustration can be, the feeling of personal violation might be worse. It’s a deeply harrowing feeling and can be made worse if an identity theft impersonated you for the purposes of defrauding friends, family, or coworkers. Embarrassment and injury to your reputation are a real possibility with long-term ramifications, which can threaten your relationships, employment status, and credit.

Avoiding Identity Theft

Unfortunately, identity thieves tend to be tech-savvy and haunt the dark web, making identification extremely difficult. They’re extremely good at being anonymous, so it’s important to take precautions to protect your privacy. A lot of those involve basic security and common-sense use of the internet. Be extremely careful when using social media. Keep your settings as private as possible on social media platforms, do not post personal information, and erase any social media profiles you’re not using (so they can’t be used against you).

Using password security best practices is always crucial. For example, never base your passwords on personal information such as names of pets or family members or dates with personal relevance. The more random a password is, and the longer it is, in general, the harder it is to crack. The idea is that you want to make sure an identity thief can’t guess your password based on information about you, because using tools to aggregate information about you and guess a series of likely password combinations is a lot easier than having to “brute force” their way through a randomized password. Should they choose a brute force strategy, then length and randomness are your allies there too.

Unfortunately, information about you online isn’t limited to what you post on social media. Much of the information that identity thieves exploit can be found in the databases of data broker sites. Fortunately, contracting with a company that contacts data broker sites and requests an information opt-out on your behalf can make you considerably less at risk of identity theft by removing the information that thieves use to try and steal your identity in the first place.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe is a standard-setting innovator within the data privacy and online security industry. Headquartered in Boston, DeleteMe’s reputation for efficient, effective internet security strategies has been established by their expert privacy team’s proprietary technology and cutting-edge innovation. Since their founding, DeleteMe has accomplished over 10 million successful consumer opt-outs. To ensure superior data security and privacy through personal information removal from Whitepages and 30-plus other data broker sites, choose DeleteMe. A DeleteMe subscription will make sure your personal information stays private year-round.

Learn about everything DeleteMe can do for your privacy and security, at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://bit.ly/2KDy5Wg

Have you spent any time at all on social media sites, in chat rooms, comment threads, discussion sites, or anywhere else that people congregate online? If so, there’s a good chance you’ve been subjected to some degree of online harassment, shaming, or cyberbullying.

Don’t Feed the Trolls

It’s an internet cliché but one of the more accurate, insightful, and important ones: Don’t feed the trolls. If you encounter a bully online who takes a specific interest in you, the worst thing you can do is engage, however tempting it may be or frustrating the bully is. Keep in mind that trolls are, virtually inevitably, angry and insecure people who glean satisfaction from the emotional responses of their targets. The angrier and more upset you get; the more satisfaction they get. If it helps, keep in mind that as tempted as you may be to insult them back, disengaging is going to frustrate them a whole lot more.

Remove Personal Information from Data Broker Sites

In addition to ignoring the trolls, opting out of having your information on data broker sites is an important step. Doing so means you will remove personal information from Google searches, should a troll try to find you. In case you’re unfamiliar with them, data brokers collect, store, and sell your private and (often very) personal information. But you can opt out of data broker sites. One of the best ways to do so is by contracting with a reputable service that has an impressive track record of successful consumer opt-outs. It’s also important to increase the security settings on your social media accounts, block bullies, and to erase old and unused social media profiles.

Keep Records

When someone begins an active campaign of cyberbullying or online shaming, it’s crucial to keep records. Take screenshots or otherwise record every message, image, or file they send to you, and record the date. Keeping records is particularly critical if the messages start turning into actual threats. The sort of person who is going to commit that fully to cyberbullying someone else is going to do whatever they can to pretend it never happened or otherwise blur the details if it comes to needing to confront them with that harassment.

Contact Site Operators and Authorities

If the harassment or shaming doesn’t let up, begins interfering with your life, or comes to include threats to the safety of you and your family, something more proactive may have to be done. Contact the site operators and administrators of whatever social media site or other internet site or forum the harassment is taking place on and report it. If they are posting humiliating, threatening, defamatory, or otherwise harmful material about you, request that the site removes it. Keep calm but be persistent. Send emails, call, whatever you have to do. And if actual threats of violence become an issue, alert local law enforcement and report it. Be sure to have your records of the harassment ready. You should also consider contacting the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), an FBI-linked organization that deals with internet harassment and threats.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe is an industry standard-setter for the optimization of data privacy and security online. From their headquarters in Boston, DeleteMe has created a reputation for effective technology security strategies by leveraging their team of privacy experts and their cutting-edge privacy innovations. So far, that team and their privacy strategies have resulted in more than 10 million successful consumer opt-outs. Choose DeleteMe to establish your privacy and data security by ensuring prompt removal from Whitepages and over 30 other data broker sites. A DeleteMe subscription will keep your personal information as private as it should be, year-round.

To learn more about DeleteMe, visit Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://bit.ly/2WzLDYr

Stalking is one of the most distressing, frustrating, frightening, insidious, and potentially dangerous crimes there is. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of the Age of Information is that the internet has made stalking far easier and often less risky for the stalker. People now have access to far more personal information, and far more convenient access to it, than they ever have in the past. And a lot of that information is willingly provided by all of us.

The key to avoiding, and halting, cyberstalking is the removal of private information from the internet. Whether that is from social media sites, date broker sites, or you set off to remove personal information from Google, erasing your private data that has been public and locking it down is the best weapon against cyberstalking.

Social Media Lockdown

Social media provides would-be stalkers with a wealth of personal information. A stranger could have immediate access to your name, birthday, relationship status, where you live, if you live alone, where you work, your likes and dislikes, and even your daily patterns. The key is to simply lock down or delete everything you can. Consider using a picture that is not of you or your home. Use a nickname or a shortened version of your name rather that your full name. Disable geotagging, and always keep your privacy settings set at maximum. If you have old social media profiles you’re not using anymore, delete them.

Get Removed from Data Broker Sites

Data brokers are an integral part of the multibillion-dollar information-gathering industry. They find, store, collate, aggregate, buy, and sell the (sometimes very) private information of everyone they can. And they are not picky about who they sell it to.

There are a few options for opting out of data broker sites. You can look into how to remove personal information from Google by personally opting out of data broker sites. There are a lot of data brokers, however, and opting out yourself can be very time-consuming. The other option is to find a reputable company that does opt-outs and contract with them for removal, which will save time and ensure your information actually gets removed.

Social Media Caution

When your social media profile or accounts are locked down, be careful when using social media. Treat it as you’d treat life. So, just like in real life, don’t say you’re friends with people you don’t know and don’t engage with people who make you uncomfortable. It’s also a good idea to avoid engaging with angry people or get involved in arguments online about controversial issues. If someone engages you and makes you uncomfortable, be clear about not wanting them to contact you again. If they persist, record everything they send you, but do not engage them again. Block anyone who behaves in a way that makes you uncomfortable.

Keep Your Personal Device Security Up-to-Date

Your personal computer and other electronic devices such as your smart phone or tablet are an even richer source of information about you than social media sites. That often includes direct access to your financial information. Keeping strangers out of your computer and other personal devices should be a top priority. Practicing good password practices is always a great idea. Be sure to keep your security and antivirus software active and up-to-date as well. These tools can block spyware and other malware and viruses that malicious people can use both to stalk you and access your finances and personal information.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe is an industry standard-setter for the optimization of data privacy and security online. From their headquarters in Boston, DeleteMe has created a reputation for effective technology security strategies by leveraging their team of privacy experts and their cutting-edge privacy innovations. So far, that team and their privacy strategies have resulted in more than 10 million successful consumer opt-outs. Choose DeleteMe to establish your privacy and data security by ensuring prompt removal from Whitepages and over 30 other data broker sites. A DeleteMe subscription will keep your personal information as private as it should be, year-round.

To learn more about DeleteMe, visit Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: http://bit.ly/2WuFjl4

There’s something to be said for fighting fire with fire, especially when you don’t have any other choice. In this case, the fire being fought is the compromising of your personal information on the internet. Of course, there’s a (sort of) surefire way to ensure that your private information isn’t tracked, collected, bought, sold, and otherwise aggregated and traded online: Not going on the internet. Of course, that’s not feasible for most people.

That’s where fire to fight fire becomes necessary: Using web services and information on the internet against the internet sites that are collecting and trading your private information. These strategies range from passive protection to learning how to remove personal information from Google to going in and opting out of the data broker sites. Here are some of the best web services to ensure that your (often very) private information remains private.

Have I Been Pwned?

Email is one of the primary ways in which personal information can be compromised online. There is the risk of malware, spyware, adware, worms, Trojan horses, phishing, spear phishing, and number of other viruses and cyber threats. It’s just one of the reasons that taking security and privacy precautions online is so important. It also raises the question: How do I know if my email address has already been compromised?

One way to answer this question is to utilize the web service Have I Been Pwned (HIBP). Just plug your email address into their site to find out whether or not your email is among those that have been compromised by big hacking incidents.

Disposable Email

Finding out whether or not your email has been hacked is obviously an incredibly helpful service to have access to. More important though is to guarantee that your email is not hacked in the first place. One of the best possible ways to do this is to contract with a reputable privacy-protection and security-providing organization to “mask” your email address. Blur does exactly that and provides a variety of masking and privacy measures, including masking credit and debit card numbers.

Blur creates unlimited Masked Email addresses for you. With a Blur Masked Email address, whenever you have to provide your email to a third-party website, the address you give will not lead directly back to your personal inbox. So anyone hoping to use personal information from your email, or bombard you with anything spammy or scammy, will be dealing with a temporary proxy inbox. And if anything in it looks fishy, you can simply turn it off.

DeleteMe

DeleteMe is a privacy and security-protection service that allows you to remove personal information from Google as well as data broker sites. It does this by contacting data broker sites and insisting that they delete your personal information. Data brokers specialize in the buying and selling of personal information, largely to financial interests hoping to use your data for marketing and advertising.

As obnoxious as it is to be bombarded with “legitimate” spam ads and offers and everything else that accompanies financial interests getting your info, that’s not necessarily the biggest risk. Unfortunately, data brokers are not real discerning about who they sell your information to. As well, your information being out on the internet also puts you at greater risk of identity theft, hacking, scams, theft, and the like.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe has set the industry standard for optimizing the security and data privacy of anyone online. From their home base in Boston, DeleteMe has established a reputation within the privacy and security industry by combining the expertise of their privacy experts with the most effective security technology and strategies, with which they have provided more than 10 million consumer opt-outs successfully. Let DeleteMe secure the privacy of your data. They will ensure that your private information removal from Whitepages and the other data broker sites keeps your personal details as safe as possible.

Ensure that your personal information remains private with DeleteMe, at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: http://bit.ly/2Uxyquf

It’s hard to describe to members of the pre-internet generation how different life was before the World Wide Web changed everything. The ease of use and ubiquity of search engines alone represents an indescribable paradigm shift from a time when information on virtually anything you wanted to know about was at your fingertips.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case, the brave, relatively new world of information access has a downside. One of the biggest drawbacks of the information age is that it tends not to be picky about the information that’s shared, including information about you. And once shared, it’s hard to remove personal information from Google that’s aggregated by data brokers and tracked by search engines. Which brings us to the hateful world of “doxxing.”

What Is Doxxing?

There’s a common warning given to those interacting with strangers on the internet on social media, chat sites, dating sites, and the like: “Be careful, they could be anyone!” That superficial online obscurity can give people the idea that the internet is a place where privacy and anonymity exists. That belief is inaccurate, if not dangerous, and can be cruelly shattered by doxxing. Doxxing is the practice of sharing someone’s personal information—phone number, physical address, information about family members, photographs, very personal details, and the like—in a very public place.

Does Anyone Deserve It?

That may seem like an odd question to ask. It is one that is legitimately being asked, however, in response to the seeming rise in white supremacist and white nationalist activity. After the infamous “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville, VA, an online movement began to identify and “dox” the participants. The attention resulted in several of the attendees being fired from their jobs after identification. However, an assistant professor from Arkansas, Kyle P. Quinn, was falsely identified as a participant and became the victim of widespread harassment. It’s generally agreed that the risk of false identification alone is sufficient to preclude the use of “acceptable” doxxing.

Doxxing and Swatting

One of the most dangerous peripheral risks of doxxing is the threat of “swatting.” Swatting is the practice of calling the police on someone to “prank” or punish them. It usually involves a malicious internet user or hacker acquiring the address of their target and calling the police to report something like a bomb threat at the address. The unsuspecting victim is then subject to a police SWAT team raiding their home. A swatting incident in December 2017 in which a false claim of violence and hostage-taking led to the fatal shooting of Andrew Finch in Wichita, KS.

How to Prevent It

There are a number of ways to prevent doxxing, many of them defensive. Everyone should have all of their social media profiles as private as possible, erase social media profiles and email addresses that are no longer used, and share as little personal information as possible online, particularly on social media. Additionally, they should seek out a service, like DeleteMe, for instance, that can show them how to remove personal information from Google. DeleteMe can also be contracted to contact the data brokers to insist your personal information be deleted. A DeleteMe subscription can remove personal information from over 30 data broker sites and keep it private year-round.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe has set the industry standard for optimizing the security and data privacy of anyone online. From their home base in Boston, DeleteMe has established a reputation within the privacy and security industry by combining the expertise of their privacy experts with the most effective security technology and strategies, with which they have provided more than 10 million consumer opt-outs successfully. Let DeleteMe secure the privacy of your data. They will ensure that your private information removal from Whitepages and the other data broker sites keeps your personal details as safe as possible.

Ensure that your personal information remains private with DeleteMe, at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: http://bit.ly/2Zqbxg8

Cybercrime is proving an increasingly costly drain on the global economy. Research indicates that cyber attacks could cost companies globally about $5.2 trillion over the next five years—that’s more than a trillion dollars a year. Unfortunately, when there’s that much money at stake, there’s going to be a criminal population that’s both enthusiastic and innovative about fighting for a piece of those funds. The result of that criminal innovation is a whole selection of strategies for fleecing the unsuspecting of their money or information that can parlayed into money, just a few of which are featured here. Thankfully, there are strategies, like learning how to remove personal information from Google, that anyone can leverage to protect themselves against cyber predators.

Password Attacks

Password attacks are one of the oldest and least sophisticated, but still often effective, form of hacking and cyber-theft. The attacks are often perpetrated in two ways: targeted and brute force. Targeted attacks require the hacker to have discovered a password by social engineering, using someone’s personal information as potential passwords, or eavesdropping on information sharing between servers online to discover a password. Brute force attacks involve bombarding the password entry with thousands or millions of common passwords and even random words (those are also called “dictionary attacks”).

Prevention

It’s become something of a cliché, but it remains good advice: Have long passwords that are combinations of different cases, letters, numbers, and special characters. Entirely random strings are best. Never use personal information, children’s names, birthdays, hobbies, and so on as passwords. And don’t leave passwords written anywhere someone could see them.

Man-in-the-Middle Attacks

Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks are also referred to as eavesdropping attacks. They involve a hacker gleaning information by “eavesdropping” on the sharing of information between servers. Once the MitM hacker gets access to that two-party information traffic, it’s easy to steal any of the information being shared, including (but not limited to) credit card numbers and bank information. MitM attacks are most often launched from unsecured Wi-Fi networks, particularly public ones, and by taking advantage of a device that’s been breached by a malware insertion.

Prevention

Preventing MitM attacks also requires some basic internet safety. Don’t use public, unsecured Wi-Fi networks, particularly in places such as coffee shops and fast food restaurants. (These are very popular haunts for cybercriminals.) Only do business on secure “HTTPS” sites. And always be sure your anti-virus and anti-malware security programs are up-to-date.

Phishing and Spear Phishing

Phishing and spear phishing are both popular with scammers because they’re cheap, relatively low risk, and often effective. They involve cyber criminals sending emails with an urgent call-to-action: A payment has been declined, a bank account has been compromised, you’ve been dropped from a service, and so forth. The link included to help resolve the issue introduces malware onto your computer, generally giving hackers access to it. Spear phishing is a less scattershot mailing list approach and involves the use of specific, researched information about someone and their organization to make the attacks more targeted and realistic.

Prevention

Practicing general email security strategies can certainly be helpful, as is removing or limiting your personal information that hackers could have access to online. Think twice about the personal information you offer online and share on social media and consider hiring a firm to remove personal information from Google as well as data broker sites. Perhaps most importantly: Don’t click links in emails unless you’re 100% certain the email is valid and genuinely came from the sender. If an unexpected email comes in from your bank, for instance, call your bank and confirm before you click.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe sets the standard in the industry for ensuring the privacy of your data and optimizing your online security. Based in Boston, DeleteMe has built this reputation by leveraging the expertise of their specialists and by providing over 10 million successful consumer opt-outs. DeleteMe has unmatched experience in and cutting-edge tools for securing data privacy and providing consumer security. They can assist with information removal from Whitepages and other data broker sites as well as search engines like Google.

Keep all of your personal information as private as it should be, at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://bit.ly/2V7N7VY

Most of us are somewhat familiar with common email scams and have likely received fairly questionable messages asking for our personal details.

A princess needs just a little bit of your money to pay the banking fees that release her fortune, much of which will go to you for your trouble and your altruism. A lawyer (struggling with spelling and syntax) is pleased to inform you that a relative you were unaware of has died, leaving all of their wealth to you! The attorney just needs your banking information to successfully transfer the funds to you account. The list of examples goes on.

Maybe you got an email from a bank you don’t have an account with, or a service you don’t subscribe to requesting that you click a link to learn more. Clumsy phishing scams like this are familiar enough to become a cliché, if not a joke.

But being too confident when it comes to identifying scams can be a bad thing, leading many to lower their guard, assuming that internet scams are unsophisticated, only fooling the gullible and naïve. That’s not the case. It is estimated that cyber crime could cost businesses over $5.2 trillion over the next five years. With possible profits exceeding a trillion dollars a year, cyber criminals have every reason to keep at it, and do so with increasingly sophisticated strategies. One of the most insidious of those is “spear phishing.”

What Is Spear Phishing?

The concept of “phishing” is pretty well-known. It generally involves a sort of shotgun approach in which fraudsters send out usually official-looking emails that warn recipients of some urgent issue. There often is a link included to learn more about or to find out how to resolve the issue (though strategies vary). When clicked, the link infects the computer with malware. Spear phishing, on the other hand, isn’t a shotgun approach. It is targeted and elaborate.

The scammer uses specific information about the target’s life, business, hobbies, friends, personal details, and so on to make a scam email look incredibly official and accurate. For the money at stake, it is well worth it for the scammer to do a considerable amount of research, which often doesn’t require that much time or effort if they’re able to find your personal information through search engines, social media, or data broker sites. Spear phishing also often includes a link to sort out or learn more about the call-to-action cited by the email that’s actually malware. Attacks like this are one more reason why it’s wise to learn how to remove personal information from Google and also remove your private data from data broker sites.

How to Prevent, Spot, and Avoid It

One of the best ways to prevent being victimized by spear phishing attacks is to both limit and remove as much of your personal data from the internet as possible. Lock down your social media profiles with the highest privacy levels possible and be careful to avoid sharing overly personal information and data that you don’t want strangers accessing. You should follow this preventative step on networking sites and publicly-accessible forums and the like as well.

Contracting with an organization that can remove personal information from Google and the other data brokers is also an excellent way to keep your personal information private. A subscription service such as DeleteMe can even remove your personal information from data broker sites such as Whitepages and search engines like Google and keep it removed year-round, making you less of a spear phishing target.

Additionally, many of the same strategies for avoiding being taken in by a phishing scam apply to spear phishing. If you’re ever sent an email with an urgent message: Your bank account has been illegally accessed, your membership to a service has been cancelled, there’s a tax problem, a payment has been declined, even a subpoena, don’t simply click the link included. An easy and effective way to bypass potential malware infections is to contact the entity being cited in the email directly. Call your bank or the service mentioned and verify the information in the email. A company specializing in data privacy and protection is sure to have some valuable tips to share as well.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe sets the standard in the industry for ensuring the privacy of your data and optimizing your online security. Based in Boston, DeleteMe has built this reputation by leveraging the expertise of their specialists and by providing over 10 million successful consumer opt-outs. DeleteMe has unmatched experience in and cutting-edge tools for securing data privacy and providing consumer security. They can assist with information removal from Whitepages and other data broker sites as well as search engines like Google.

Keep all of your personal information as private as it should be, at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://goo.gl/bnpFr2

There are likely millions of people who practice safe, common sense, shrewd personal security: We never use “password” for our password, we only use secure websites for purchases, and we don’t click on strange links. Perhaps we even take advantage of data broker opt-outs and remove personal information from Google.

Subsequently, we then log into our social media accounts and purposefully share information we’re incredibly careful about sharing in every other aspect of our lives. As rampant as identity theft, hacking, and online scamming has become, personal information security is more important than ever. And social media platforms are one of the richest sources of information for those hackers, thieves, and scammers. Thankfully, there are steps anyone can take to protect themselves and limit their information exposure.

Protect the Gates to Your Social Networks

A lot of this is ground that’s been covered fairly thoroughly before, but it bears repeating just to preclude complacency: Be careful with your passwords. Switch your passwords up every few months, don’t use personal information in them, but do include symbols, letters, numbers, and both lower and uppercase letters. Use varying passwords for different social media platforms, and always use passwords for your devices.

If someone was able to get access to your smartphone, would they also have access to your social media, email, or bank accounts? This speaks to why strong passwords—not “1234”—are essential for your devices. Additionally, be sure to delete any social media accounts you never use, and be very careful about accessing your social media or anything else with sensitive information on a free, unfamiliar, or possibly unsecure Wi-Fi connection. Hackers will often loiter around free Wi-Fi networks, particularly free popular ones at restaurants and coffee shops.

Remove Personal Information and Don’t Overshare

Removing social media network-adjacent information can be hugely helpful as well. Hackers use information gathered from several sources to steal an identity. Contracting with an organization that can demonstrate how to remove personal information from Google, or do it themselves, can prove crucial in securing your personal information. Refraining from oversharing on social media platforms is likewise a key piece of a security strategy. Rather than your exact address, just name the city. Consider if you really need to note your full birthday, including year, or if mentioning “late 20s” (or your appropriate age range) is sufficient. You should also avoid listing your phone number and should never share your social security number.

Additionally, reconsider the kinds of information that you give away in your social media posts. Information like your general schedule, class schedule, or mentioning your mother’s maiden name. Consider any password reminders you have set up and if the information you’re sharing online would answer those prompts.

And remember that this is the internet, which means removing information you share can be quite difficult, so it’s best to use precaution in the first place before anything gets spread far and wide. After all, teachers have been fired for posing with beer or wine in vacation pictures. So consider: Is a post something you’d want your boss to see? How about parents or coworkers? It’s not that you can’t share anything, but keep in mind that even if you delete something, it’s easy for people to take screenshots beforehand. Just consider posts carefully, in addition to your privacy settings.

Limit Friends, Limit Social Media Platforms, Limit Info

The point of social media platforms is connecting with and, yes, even making friends. However, the latter can be problematic. Think twice about adding anyone as a friend that you only know from the internet, particularly if you’ve only encountered them recently. And if you do add those you don’t know well, consider limiting their access to any of your personal information. In general, keep your privacy settings secure. Even on sites like LinkedIn, where including work and personal information is the point, only include your employment history and other pertinent info that’s truly useful for networking. There’s no reason to post anything that’s not strictly relevant to your career path. And again, if you’re not using a social media account you’ve set up, delete it, don’t let it just sit around for someone else to hack into. These steps will help keep your personal information private.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe is an industry leader in ensuring data privacy and online security. From their base in Boston, DeleteMe has built their reputation in part by leveraging the expertise of their team of specialists and have succeeded in providing over 10 million consumer opt-outs. Their team has decades of collective experience in identity theft, privacy, and consumer security. They can aid in removal from Whitepages, other data broker sites, and Google, as well as payment security and other means to protects your personal and financial security.

Ensure that your personal information remains yours alone, at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://goo.gl/arYXJ2

It’s undoubtedly no surprise to anyone reading this, but identity theft is still a huge problem. It victimizes millions of people a year and takes a good amount of time and money to clear up. Collectively, identity theft costs both consumers and businesses billions. That means it’s in everyone’s best interest to learn how to remove personal information from Google and do everything else in their power to mitigate the threat of identity theft by keeping their personal information safe.

Shred Enthusiastically

One of the richest sources of information for identity thieves is personal mail. They will literally sort through trash to find bills, credit card applications, bank statements, and anything else with personal and financial information on it. Shred anything that has any of your useable personal information on it or that can be used to apply for a credit card, account, or to access or change banking information.

Erase as Much of Your Personal Information as Possible

Too few people are aware of the multi-billion-dollar data broker industry that specializes in storing and selling your personal information. Perhaps even fewer are aware that you can request that they delete your information. You can make those requests yourself, though there are dozens of data brokers, and many of them make the information removal requests as difficult as possible. Consider using a subscription service like DeleteMe to take your private details off data broker sites and to remove personal information from Google—and keep it removed year-round.

Check and Freeze Your Credit

Also not well-known is the option consumers have to contact the three big credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and Trans Union, and request that their credit records be “frozen.” Freezing your credit restricts all access to your credit records until you contact the credit bureaus again and unfreeze your information. Each of the bureaus offers an app that allows you to lock and unlock your credit records whenever you want. You’re also entitled to one free credit check a year from each of the bureaus. Take advantage of that by checking your credit once every four months or so to ensure everything is in good standing.

Passwords and SSN: Keep Them Secret and Safe

Messages about keeping your passwords and social security number (SSN) safe are pretty common. Unfortunately, that ubiquity can result in those warnings being lost in the static of safety warnings. That’s a bad thing, as there’s virtually no gate that opens more directly to your finances and your most private information than passwords and your SSN. On the off-chance you’re not familiar with this information, be sure to use different passwords for different applications. Use complex passwords that incorporate symbols, numbers, and a change of case. Don’t use permutations of personal information (family members’ names, birthdays, and so on) or overly simple passwords such as “1234” or “password.” Give your SSN out only when absolutely necessary, and double-check requests for it to be sure they’re legitimate.

Read Your Mail

Reading mail seems like advice that doesn’t need to be given, but a lot of scammers take advantage of many consumers’ failure to read their mail thoroughly enough. Often just the basics are sufficient: Keep an eye out for new bills coming and old ones no longer coming. Go over your current bills and statements, looking for charges you don’t recognize and withdrawals you didn’t make. Anything you don’t recognize, changes without explanation, or something that strikes you as odd is worth looking into further. It’s better to find out more about a charge or change and make sure you’re the one who made it than risk losing money by ignoring it.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe is an industry leader in ensuring data privacy and online security. From their base in Boston, DeleteMe has built their reputation in part by leveraging the expertise of their team of specialists and have succeeded in providing over 10 million consumer opt-outs. Their team has decades of collective experience in identity theft, privacy, and consumer security. They can aid in removal from Whitepages, other data broker sites, and Google, as well as payment security and other means to protects your personal and financial security.

Ensure that your personal information remains yours alone, at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://goo.gl/9WNbNP

With great convenience, and virtually fathomless access to information, entertainment, and ecommerce, comes great risks. That’s the trade-off that all of us make when we use the internet. It’s a significantly greater risk when we use the internet for email and any kind of ecommerce. Doing so opens us up to attempted hacks, identity thieving scams, viruses, malware, spyware, scareware, pharming, and a variety of other criminal schemes.

Among the most common and one of the most dangerous schemes is “phishing.” For the uninitiated, phishing is an email-based scam in which a cyber-criminal (or group of them) send emails purported to be legitimate, from legitimate businesses or friends, that actually contain malicious links or attachments. The point of phishing is to extract private, personal information, and eventually money, from the unsuspecting victim. If there’s anything encouraging about phishing, however, it’s that the people threatened by phishing scams have recourse and can also take steps to avoid being fooled by phishing scams.

Perhaps the most important rule of avoiding phishing scams is to not click on links you’re sent in an email. (And one of the most effective methods to prevent being reached by phishing emails is learning how to remove personal information from Google.) Unfortunately, even your bank, companies you work with, and friends and family can be suspect. After all, logos can be faked, and even if you keep your personal information private, the accounts of friends and family members can still be hacked.

But there are warning signs. If anything seems “off” or you encounter any of the following, proceed with caution:

● Logos that look “off”

● Misspellings and other inconsistencies

● URLs that don’t match the company’s name

● Unsecured URLs (“http” rather than “https” accompanied by the padlock icon)

● URLs with foreign domains

● URLs with chunks of gibberish early in the address

The best practice regarding any link you’re sent via email is to ignore the link or attachment and contact the actual company, or the person who supposedly sent you the message. Often, the earlier-mentioned “scareware” scamming will play a part in phishing. You’ll be told some feature of your computer, banking, or something else has been compromised and you need to click a link, open an attachment or provide additional information. In addition to never clicking a link or opening an attachment from an email you’re not quite sure about, you should also never fill out forms asking for personal information in an email; particularly if it’s asking for financial data. Any message saying that you’ve won a competition you didn’t enter or should log into a site you aren’t a member of should likewise be deleted.

Along with generally being wary, there are some steps you can take to remain safer and keep your personal information secure. Either learn how to do it yourself or contract with a company that can remove personal information from Google. When contracting with a company that can remove your information from Google and data broker sites, choose one that offers disposable email addresses. Having a disposable email address (or more than one) can be useful measure. You can use a disposable email address when you need to provide an email address but don’t want to share your personal one and open yourself up to mountains of spam messages. After all, the less spam you encounter, the better—and the less likely your personal email address will be targeted for a phishing scam.

About DeleteMe

With more than 10 million consumer opt-outs, DeleteMe is a leader in data privacy and security. Based in Boston, they have built that reputation by leveraging their team’s expertise regarding consumer protection, identity theft, and privacy. That expertise is represented by their effective, user-friendly suite of comprehensive privacy solutions. Whether you’re concerned about password protection and removal from Whitepages, or payment security and anything else that protects personal and financial security, DeleteMe is the online service you need to keep your personal information private year-round.

Guarantee that your information remains yours alone, at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://goo.gl/5sf1P4

While it’s a fantastic understatement to point out that the internet has changed the world of commerce, sometimes the differences between ecommerce and good old brick-and-mortar trade are overstated. For instance, the reputation of a business, online or on the street, is incredibly important in determining a company’s success or failure. The difference is, before the internet, the reputation of any business but one famous or infamous enough to be discussed in the local or national media was virtually 100% attributable to word of mouth.

That’s not the case with the internet. It’s an understandable dynamic and perhaps a fair trade-off: a merchant, from the comfort of their living room, now has access to literally hundreds of millions of customers all over the planet. For better or worse, however, those hundreds of millions of customers have access to that merchant—and that merchant’s online reputation. As hard as it can be to remove personal information from Google, including information influencing businesses and potential customers, reputation management online is entirely possible. And incredibly important.

Why Online Reputation Management Is Important

The online reputation of a business isn’t just an abstract consideration. Online reputation management is extremely important for a number of reasons, and having a negative online reputation can be costly in more ways than one.

It Can Sway Customers

Negative comments about your products, services, customer service, or an overall negative review can cost you customers. Many people read reviews before purchasing products or booking services. Make sure your online reputation encourages potential customers to follow through on their actions.

It Can Scare Away Potential Employees

If the internet has nothing good to say about your business, products, or services, it doesn’t bode well for prospective employees researching your company before applying. Just like you’re looking at their social media activity and searching for them in Google, they’re doing the same for you and your business. Make sure accurate information is being shared about your organization online and that your online presence excites, rather than scares away potential hires.

It Can Impact Business Relationships

Just as consumers might not want to support a company they’ve read nothing but bad things about; the same goes for potential business relationships. Make sure your organization’s strong mission and well-reviewed services or products are what those you’d like to work with see.

How to Improve Your Online Reputation

So it’s clear that online reputation matters. And unfortunately, even the most honest, reliable, trustworthy, and generally well-regarded company can suffer from attacks on their reputations. Misconstrued and quote-mined misquoting, vengeful competitors or even ex-employees posting dishonest libel, as well as photos of employees or management acting inappropriately can besmirch an otherwise spotless reputation. So it’s something anyone who does business, no matter how ethically and morally, online (or hopes to attract decent employees, clients, etc. online; so all companies, pretty much) should be concerned with.

Offer a Thoughtful Response

Cleaning up an online reputation doesn’t have any quick fixes. It requires scanning social media, review aggregators like Yelp, search engines, and more for negative comments and dealing with them. If they are opinions and the site allows for a response, it helps to respond with an explanation, apology, offer for help or a refund, or whatever else might be appropriate to remedy the situation.

Work to Remove Lies and Libel

If it’s something that’s actually a lie, particularly a malicious one, contact the site directly to have it removed. That often requires quite a bit of endurance. If it’s actually libel (someone lying about fraud, accusing employees or management of criminality, etc.), consider employing legal help to have it removed. It can also be valuable to engage a company that specializes in the removal of personal information online and helps with reputation management.

Keep Employee Information Private

Things seemingly out of your control can also garner a poor online reputation, be it an account hack sending spam emails, or the identity theft of an employee. But by contracting with a company that specializes in keeping employee information private, businesses large and small can help keep personal information safe and learn how to remove personal information from Google if need-be. Be sure to contract with a company that specializes in online privacy protection and will customize plans so you get what your business needs. Prevention should always be a part of your online reputation management strategy.

About DeleteMe

With more than 10 million consumer opt-outs, DeleteMe is a leader in data privacy and security. Based in Boston, they have built that reputation by leveraging their team’s expertise regarding consumer protection, identity theft, and privacy. That expertise is represented by their effective, user-friendly suite of comprehensive privacy solutions. Whether you’re concerned about password protection and removal from Whitepages, or payment security and anything else that protects personal and financial security, DeleteMe is the online service you need to keep your personal information private year-round.

Guarantee that your information remains yours alone, at Joindeleteme.com

Original Source: https://goo.gl/uS79vE