Smear campaigns
Well, it might not actually be a smear campaign, but I bet it has the same effect. Whilst checking Amazon for my books being on there, it occurred to me to search for my name instead of the ISBN. The results that arrived included my namesake from the Arizona Fish & Game department, who has written a couple of reports about turkeys. Bah, at least I'm still the top result on Google.
So I go to Google, and search my name. I am 7/10 results on the first page, but something like the fifth result on the second page is "BRIAN WAKELING - Public & Criminal Records Dirtserach.org"
What!?!?!?
I click the link. Turns out it's a site that harvests names from public records and websites, and collects them, calling it "dirt". It returned results from Arizona, (and can only return results from records based in the USA - theoretically), which was where that particular court action took place. And, underneath, it says it's found me 5 times on FaceBook, which is not a solely-USA entity.
Now, supposing I was trying to get a job with a prestigious employer of some kind. I might tell them I'm fairly active online, as that's now a rather expected thing in some places. What if this employer searches my name? What if they're an American employer (stranger things have happened)? They're going to find that dirtsearch entry pretty high on the list. And if they're pushed for time, or have an arbitrary requirement that their employees are whiter-than-white, or any number of other reasons, they're not going to check the details, and I'm going to end up not-employed by possibly someone I really want a job with, because someone with my name on the other side of the world has been to court.
So, whether or not they intended it, dirtsearch.org is potentially a very damaging site. Not that there's very much for me to get damaged on, but what little I have I'd like to keep undamaged, thanks. And there's also the issue that using this site might constitute and illegal invasion of someone's privacy.
So I go to Google, and search my name. I am 7/10 results on the first page, but something like the fifth result on the second page is "BRIAN WAKELING - Public & Criminal Records Dirtserach.org"
What!?!?!?
I click the link. Turns out it's a site that harvests names from public records and websites, and collects them, calling it "dirt". It returned results from Arizona, (and can only return results from records based in the USA - theoretically), which was where that particular court action took place. And, underneath, it says it's found me 5 times on FaceBook, which is not a solely-USA entity.
Now, supposing I was trying to get a job with a prestigious employer of some kind. I might tell them I'm fairly active online, as that's now a rather expected thing in some places. What if this employer searches my name? What if they're an American employer (stranger things have happened)? They're going to find that dirtsearch entry pretty high on the list. And if they're pushed for time, or have an arbitrary requirement that their employees are whiter-than-white, or any number of other reasons, they're not going to check the details, and I'm going to end up not-employed by possibly someone I really want a job with, because someone with my name on the other side of the world has been to court.
So, whether or not they intended it, dirtsearch.org is potentially a very damaging site. Not that there's very much for me to get damaged on, but what little I have I'd like to keep undamaged, thanks. And there's also the issue that using this site might constitute and illegal invasion of someone's privacy.