They’ve been around for several years, people search engines, but with the increasing popularity for individuals to handle more and more tasks via the Internet, the bounty of information one can find out about almost anyone is amazing.
It’s not just any “one thing”, it’s the cumulative effects of spending time, not just conducting business but “living” on the Internet, that can work to spill the beans on you.
Information regarding certain purchase decisions or even just page views a person made can tell a lot about them, just as isolated posts from forums and chat rooms. Maybe you were innocently asking someone in a health forum for tips on handlig a herpes outbreak. Or perhaps you were in some business social site asking someone how they dealt with an “incompetent boss”.
All of this information, including things people say about you, your age, rank and serial number, address, previous addresses and lots more are being tracked by numerous services, sites and engines.
Most people refer to them as People search or aggregated identity search, Spokeo, Yahoo People Search and CVGadget are just a few of the many sites out there that can provide you with a treasure trove of information on just about anyone. Most offer some free information, while others require either individual fees or membership fees to get the juicy stuff. A few of the free ones, surprisingly still give you a lot to work with.
Some of this is innocent enough, such as providing statistical data to companies to use for marketing and advertising purposes. but background checks and the use of information for purposes of filtering for employment, housing and even dating is growing leaps and bounds. Apparently it doesn’t even matters in many circles if using this information for such purposes is legal or not.
The services aren’t doing anything illegal. This information is out there. But what someone might decide to do with it is another story.
If you’re curious, use one of the services to search on yourself to see just what information about you is floating around.
Some of these services offer ways to opt out, make private or manage (to some extent) what people can find out about you.
Other than that, it would seem as though we are simply destined to submit to an ever changing and complex world. What we say and do becomes more and more of an open book. Cameras, both still and video are implemented in cell phones and are ever cheaper, smaller and more user friendly. Add to this traffic cameras, security cameras and one can feel very much like Jim Carrey’s character Truman from the movie, the Truman Show.
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