sigh--should I pursue this or let it go?personal data on the web

[iris lilies]

I think I mentioned this somewhere earlier.

I can Google my email address, and a file from our neighborhrood comes up with my email address and birthdate, along with my name, address, and phone number.

Now, I don't have a problem with my name, address, phone number being out there on the web, that's all over the place for most people. And, my email address is out there as well because I've placed it there for a couple of plant society projects.

But I am a little uncomfortable with my birthdate (day, month, year) as well as my email address being in one file, and it is easy to Google the email.

I've asked our neighborhood's I.T. guy to take down the page since it is no longer relevant to anything, but he's notoriously unreliable. Should I push him to take it down? Or maybe it doesn't really matter. What do you think?

[bae]

Delete, and ask Google to remove it from their caches.

[razz]

And people wonder why I get upset about respecting personal data. I didn't know that Google would remove such stuff.

[SteveinMN]

And people wonder why I get upset about respecting personal data. I didn't know that Google would remove such stuff.

Don't expect it to be a slam-dunk. Google has put a lot of effort into not unilaterally honoring "right to be forgotten" laws which have been established in various countries. In their defense, full eradication is complicated. But gubmints are trying to make them do it. They wouldn't do it by themselves.

I agree -- pester the IT guy. Border on persona non grata. A full birthdate is very useful in identity theft. As mentioned, much of the other data is public record. But an entire birthdate is a different matter.

And, frankly, if you feel altruistic enough, if your birthdate is there, so are others. All of them should be removed.

[freshstart]

agreed, DOB is not ok, I wouldn't even want my email

[iris lilies]

agreed, DOB is not ok, I wouldn't even want my email

My email address has to be there, I am a contact person for several community projects and events.and that information is out in the web.

[jp1]

Personally i'd pick the person with the most annoying persistant personality who is on the list and get them worried about it and then trust that they will pester the IT guy until it gets done.

[iris lilies]

Personally i'd pick the person with the most annoying persistant personality who is on the list and get them worried about it and then trust that they will pester the IT guy until it gets done.

Cough cough, ummm. That person may be me



But yes, I did think about whipping up frenzy from everyone else on the list to have them pelt I.T. Guy with messages to remove this sensitive data. It's doubly annoying because this page is from an old website that's been abandoned.

I am angry at myself for providing sensitive info. Everyone else ( the organization that asked for it, the doofus who put it up on the web and then made it searchable by engines) bears some responsibility, but it's mainly on me.

[kib]

Am I being rash and crazy to go against the tide here? I have decided to be exceedingly careful about my banking and SS# and reasonably blase about the rest of it. Half the websites you go to ask for your birthday (I assume as a way of making sure you're over 18). I don't give my real one but I'm sure many people do. I'm constantly asked for everything from my email address to my family pet's name, and I doubt the security on that is as tight as one might imagine. If you go to a search site you can find out lots of information about just about anyone, especially if you're willing to pay. I'm getting to a point where I feel I'm being pressured into paranoia, and I'm just tired of it.

[Alan]

Generally it only takes 3 data points to narrow down a database of 350,000,000 people to one individual. Name, DOB and partial SS# being the most efficient.
It's one thing to provide two of those three to a trusted individual or organization, it's quite another to have them present it to the world.