How to Avoid Creating a Name Trail on the Internet

The internet is used world wide by over a million people. People use the internet to research, work, connect, distance learn, past time, and to share information with one another. What many people who use the web do not realize is that their privacy is not always secured. Indulging in simple things such as playing a game, commenting on a web site, or even uploading a picture can create a name trail where bits of private information get publicly linked to the person using the internet. This can be damaging to a person's reputation because it makes aspects of their personal life available to employers, family, and friends. You never want to find out the hard and embarrassing way that your private life has been made public. To avoid this happening to you, you should take the proper steps to ensure your privacy on the internet. Below are some ways to avoid creating a name trail on the internet.

Do not comment on websites using your real name or a name that people know you by. If you make a comment on a website that comment will remain there with your name right beside it. Even if you delete the comment on the website it still has a chance of remaining there; what happens is that the erased contents become cached. If someone types your name in a search engine your name may show up right alongside that comment. Can you imagine making a culturally insensitive comment on a website and then having your boss or close friends view it? It would be damaging. If you want to take participation in any online website or forum make sure that you do so under a false name if you don't want to be connected to that particular content.

Make sure to set the privacy settings on your web profiles. When you sign up for email accounts with sites such as Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, or Google you are automatically given a web profile that you can update with personal information. If you sign up for an email account and never use your web profile your personal information will be available to anyone who searches for you on that site. If you want information such as your name, address, education, age and place of work to be private, you must tend to your profile as soon as you sign up for an email account. You tend to your profile by making sure that you check the appropriate boxes to set the correct privacy settings. When you set the privacy settings you have the option of choosing what information you want to be made public and who you want to view it such as those in your network.

Set your privacy setting on yahoo profiles. If you use the yahoo answers website you need to make sure that you set the privacy settings. Although you have the option to make your questions and answers private on the website, if you do not set the privacy settings on your yahoo web profile your questions and answers will be publicly displayed under your name. If someone happens to search for you in yahoo profiles and you have not set your privacy settings accurately, they will see every question and answer that you have asked on yahoo answers. You should avoid using your real name on your yahoo answers profile and you should set the privacy settings on both your Yahoo profile and questions profile. Your questions and answers can not be deleted once they have been solved or are in voting. Your name will remain cached in search engines along with your questions so be sure to set the privacy settings on both profiles.

Avoid signing up for websites where people can type in your name to find out information about you. Sites such as classmates.com and photobucket.com and dating sites require you to enter in information so that people can look you up and connect with you. Some of these sites have privacy settings but it is up to you to take advantage of the settings options.

Use a fake name when signing up for sites like Facebook or MySpace. You can set your Facebook and MySpace profiles to private but if you share information such as pictures or private text with someone else whose profile is public that information will be made public. Using a fake name is fairly easy, you just have to let others in your circle know what name you go by and they will be able to connect with you.

Avoid writing blogs under your real name. When you write and publish blogs on the internet, the information will be available to everyone. You can establish private blogs but it is very possible for someone to copy that blog and repost it on a site that is not private. If you wouldn't want certain parts of your blog made public then it is best to write that blog under a false name. If you do not use a false name your name will be forever linked to that blog. You can delete the blog but saved versions (cached) of that blog may still float around on the net.

Avoid using youtube to upload videos of yourself. Just as photos and blogs can be copied, reposted, and circulated on the web so can videos. There are websites that enable people to download videos from youtube onto their computers, and they can then take those videos and do whatever they want with them.

The internet can be fun but it can also lead to very embarrassing situations. It is important to remember that whatever you put on the net stays on the internet. Before you post anything on the internet ask yourself would you be ashamed or embarrassed if others were to see what you posted? If so, then it is best not to use your real name, place photos of yourself, or videos of yourself on the internet. Despite the many privacy settings available on websites, privacy is not guaranteed on the internet. Remember, whatever you put on the internet has the chance of getting copied, reposted, and circulated where dozens to millions of people will have access to it.