If you think a Google search will reveal everything the Internet knows about you, you are absolutely wrong. Not even close.
Data aggregation companies and sites like InstantCheckmate.com know more about you than you may realize. They happily sell your information to marketers and display it online for the whole world to see. The downside can be huge.
Have any enemies who might use information against you? Upset coworkers, competitors, exes, stalkers and anyone else with a grudge – or just too much curiosity – can go online and find more information than most people are comfortable sharing. It is ridiculously easy to do.
“Been issued a speeding ticket? Failed to stop at a stop sign? What about your family members? And friends?” asks an Instant Checkmate advertisement. “If you are like most of us, the answer to at least one of those questions is “yes”—the vast majority of us have slipped up at least once or twice.”
The company promises to reveal “the full scoop on millions of Americans.”
“Instant Checkmate aggregates hundreds of millions of publicly available criminal, traffic, and arrest records and posts them online so they can easily be searched by anyone. Members of the site can literally begin searching within seconds, and are able to check as many records as they like (think: friends, family, neighbors, etc. etc.),” the company promises.
What else is available online?
Marriage records, divorce records, various types of licenses (medical, firearm, aviation, etc.), previous addresses, phone numbers, birthdates, estimated income levels and even satellite imagery of known addresses. Instant Checkmate admits, “It’s really pretty scary just how much information is in these reports.”
Data aggregation, bringing together information from a wide range of sources, is the Internet’s dirtiest secret and biggest threat to personal privacy and liberty. It is the same sort of thing the NSA does, only now by private businesses.
There are virtually no limits on how the information is gathered or may be used. It does not even have to be true.
Your next job, relationship, credit purchase, virtually anything could be scuttled by what these companies know – or think they know – about you. Not all of the information is accurate, but once collected, false information can take on a life of its own – and make your life hell.
There are dozens of companies that collect and sell our personal information. Even if you think you have already locked down your privacy, you are likely to be amazed at what you find is out there.
Don’t believe us? Our service InfoEraser will let you run a free sample check on yourself or someone you know. If your record appears, you can tell these privacy killers “no” and opt-out and stay out of dozens of data aggregators’ files.
Ready to stop worrying and start getting protected?
