Building and Protecting Your Digital Reputation
In today’s digital age, your online presence can significantly impact your personal and professional life. Establishing and maintaining a good digital reputation requires effort, but the consequences of neglecting it can be severe. Here are some essential steps to help you build and protect your digital reputation.
Search Your Name
It’s often referred to as “ego-surfing,” but it’s a prudent practice to search your own name and those of your loved ones on search engines like Google or Bing. Use variations of your name, including middle names, initials, and any changes due to marriage. Additionally, search your email addresses and phone numbers to see if they’ve been posted anywhere they shouldn’t be.
If you have a common name, adding your city or town to the search can help narrow down the results. Delve several pages deep to ensure none of the results are mistakenly attributed to you. Keep a list of any concerning search hits. If you control them, consider hiding or deleting them. If they were posted by friends, ask them to remove or untag you. For third-party posts, consider taking legal action if necessary.
Opt Out of “Public Information” Listings
During your self-search, you may find yourself listed in “people search” directories like Spokeo and UnMask. These sites publish information from public records, which can be a goldmine for bad actors. Information such as past addresses, employers, and relatives’ names can be used to guess security questions and open new accounts in your name.
To protect yourself, use the opt-out functions on these sites to remove your listings. If you find the process confusing, try Googling “opt out” along with the name of the service. You can also use Experian’s personal privacy scan to automate some of the process and see where your information is listed.
Be Online and on Social Media
Even if you’re not interested in using social media for networking, establishing a digital presence can help prevent misunderstandings and mistaken identity. Secure a domain in your name and create accounts on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. This ensures that employers find the “real you” when they search your name.
If you don’t want to be active on these platforms, lock down the account privacy settings to limit visibility to your network. It’s better for a prospective employer to find accounts with minimal information than to mistake another account for yours.
Be Aware on Social Media
Information posted online can last forever, so it’s crucial to think twice before sharing photos or posts that could come back to haunt you. While fashion disasters and dated hairstyles are no big deal, posts depicting reckless or excessive behavior can have serious negative consequences. Posts hinting at illegal activity could even prompt a visit from law enforcement.
Encourage young people you care about to think twice before sharing details that could prove embarrassing or worse. Even years-old posts can resurface and cause problems.
Keep Social Media Private
Using privacy settings on social media apps to share information only with your personal network can help prevent misuse of your image and personal information. While not foolproof, it makes it harder for others to find your posts. If you’re concerned about unfavorable impressions, consider changing your profile name to something other than your full name. Untag yourself from unflattering posts and delete any of your own posts that give you pause.
Use Strong Passwords and Multifactor Authentication
Access to your social accounts, email, and other online accounts can make it easier for criminals to impersonate you and commit fraud. To prevent this, use unique, strong passwords on all your accounts and change them regularly. A good password manager can help with this effort.
Consider activating biometric authentication (face or fingerprint recognition) on your smartphone apps and multifactor authentication (MFA) on other account logins. MFA adds an extra step to the login process by sending you a verification code, assuming criminals won’t have access to your email or text messages.
Take Action as Appropriate
If your research uncovers social media posts incorrectly attributed to you, notify the relevant platform using its reporting tools and change your passwords immediately. If someone is using your identity for fraudulent purposes, report it to the appropriate platform and consider making an identity theft report to the authorities.
If defamatory information about you is posted, seek professional advice on your legal options. Laws governing libel and slander vary by jurisdiction, so an experienced attorney can advise you on the best course of action.
The Bottom Line
Paying attention to the information you share on digital platforms and what others may post about you can help ensure your digital reputation is accurate and positive. It can also help prevent identity theft and protect your credit. Using a service like identity monitoring from Experian can help detect unauthorized use of your personal information and suspicious changes to your credit reports.
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