A random article about Googling yourself and the horrors it can reveal…
Image by edkohler via Flickr
So for the first time I thought I would give into the Google hype and see what the all seeing, all knowing God-like entity actually knew about me.
I was horrified! I didn’t even have to put in my location, just my first and last name and there you have it, everything! My old school photos, all of my online literary content and everything in between.
I knew that publishing online would give me some element of online presence but I had no idea to what extent I would be visible to the general public.
I think that whilst Google is a fantastic resource for research and general surfing but it could be particularly threatening, especially since it can gather a lot of personal, sensitive information about a person.
I wouldn’t necessarily want people to find out everything about my childhood but it would appear that with very little knowledge and expertise, people could quite easily uncover my entire history.
I do wonder if there is a way to eliminate yourself from Google searches, as sort of a throwback from the data protection act. I know that ultimately you are aware of the risks when you put your information on the Internet but my Facebook profile is set to private. It is supposed to be extremely difficult to find yet Google took me straight to my profile page, even showing my profile picture (which was supposed to be hidden.)
Image via Wikipedia
On that basis, Google is clearly throwing up results that are beyond its jurisdiction and I wonder if there is any point in challenging them on the issue. They are a multi-national corporation and one would assume that they don’t make mistakes but it is quite evident that they do.
Personal, private information that has been deliberately hidden from the general public can now be found. I remember Googling a friend of mine to see if I could find a way of reaching him and stumbled across a persona email that he had sent to a work colleague. How is that even remotely possible? I have no idea, but it is.
Google is a scary, powerful yet beautiful resource in its simplicity. I love and hate it for the same amount of reasons. Go on, Google yourself…you never know what information might be lurking about you!
October 4th, 2009 at 9:28 am
good
very good
October 4th, 2009 at 9:32 am
I have Googled myself on occasion; actually, I have written for a newspaper, so many of my articles are still online as well as my blog. What is really scary is that prospective employers will Google potential employees and sometimes what you write and post online, as well as your membership on various sites can hurt you.
October 4th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Google is such a good way for the most ordinary person to become a spy. It is so easy to find out personal information of people by just knowing simple things like probably their name, city of residence and maybe even things like what school they went to. And sometimes this information can be the kind we don’t want to share as it can be easily abused.
I have Googled myself and although hardly any results come up, I’m glad it is so because to not put those privacy settings on my profiles and other places can be detrimental to my own life on the internet. I guess what we can learn from this is that anything can happen in cyberspace and precautions must be taken to bar ourselves from this.
October 4th, 2009 at 9:53 am
I once caught a staff member out in a lie when I was google whacking random names. Luckily for him I am a benevolent boss.
October 4th, 2009 at 9:53 am
That is really scary. I’ ll see if I can find myself.
October 4th, 2009 at 10:54 am
I googled myself and had no problem finding info. It is kind of scary.
October 4th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
You have me intrigued now Gringo, what did he do?
October 4th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Interesting article!
October 4th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I googled myself. It felt good.
October 5th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Great subject. You got me paranoid so I checked my name, and was not sure whether I was glad or dissappointed that there was nothing—not even my Facebook.
October 5th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Yes, I have Googled myself! One of my friends found me and told me that I was all over the internet. It’s all good. Somebody important may contact you one day. Great article.
October 5th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
Yes, I have Googled myself! One of my friends found me and told me that I was all over the internet. It’s all good. Somebody important may contact you one day. Great article.
October 7th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Oh, yes I’ve googled myself…
October 8th, 2009 at 12:22 am
hmm, i google my self, and nothing about me showed up. well, anyways, well done. I never thought to search for my self on Google.
October 11th, 2009 at 8:36 am
I just googled myself and it is kind of scary… I