Google Your Name

In 1997 my first book was published. I recently wondered if the book would still show up if someone Googled me. So I Googled my name. The results surprised me.

The first entry was from a dental forum. I’d had surgery on my gums several years ago that I deemed personal. I was mortified to think that someone looking for my book would come across this piece of information. I had thought the dental forum was private.

The second entry was from a hepatitis C forum. In 1988 I received several units of transfused blood as a result of a serious accident (subject of the above-mentioned book). Luckily blood was screened for AIDS at that time, but screening for hepatitis C didn’t begin until 1992. So I received the gift that keeps on giving.

I choose to be open about most things to most people. But choosing is the key word. I can reveal personal facts about myself. Few people reading this blog actually know my last name or who I really am. For those who know my true identity, I’m open anyway.

Hepatitis, for the record, isn’t always as scary as the media portrays it. Thousands of people have quality of life without going through Interferon treatments. Hepatitis isn’t as contagious as most people think. It is blood to blood, and rarely passed to a sexual partner.

Many members of the two hepatitis forums I frequented had been married for years without passing the virus to their spouses. I also learned that support forums about illness are generally negative. Few people are proactive in managing their care. They rely on doctors or other forum members for information.

I was a member of two hepatitis forums and one dental forum for a nano-second, and Google remembered these tidbits of information, information that I thought was private.

Here is part of the problem: If you post a question or response at a forum, using a screen name or alias, your identity is protected. But if your real name is in your email address, the search engine will group the information together. For instance, at Yahoo forums, your email address is revealed to the forum when you respond to someone else’s post. You can choose to keep your email address private, but if you are gathering information of a personal nature, you may want other members to email you their personal answer.

I have used my whole name in my email address for years so that anyone wanting to write me could easily remember it. Now, I question the wisdom of this choice, especially when it's tied into a forum message. In addition, I cannot receive email without revealing my whole name. With crazy people stalking individuals or stealing their identities, we must develop a new awareness of the downside of technology.

I revisited the dental forum and stated my case. I saw that the forum was indeed public. The owner of the forum either didn’t understand the setup options, or he didn’t see the need for discretion. And, as a member, I had not paid attention. After I explained my dilemma, the forum owner gave me moderator status, so that I could delete my past messages. Unfortunately, my name–-in the form of my email address--appears in the messages of others who had responded to me.

The only information that Google revealed about me and the hepatitis forum was that I had frequented a hepatitis forum. There’s nothing I can really do except to find other ways to get noticed by Google, so that previous entries move down on the list.

The good news is that at least two other women share my full name. One of them writes westerns. If one of her old high school boyfriends Googles her name, he might wonder if she has hepatitis. And somebody else might think I write westerns.

I now choose to be careful about what I might reveal. Your neighbors, if they’re Internet savvy, can Google your name, instead of knocking on your door or calling you on the phone. Isn’t the twenty-first century great?

When I’m bored, instead of cleaning my house, I Google people I know. I haven’t discovered any tasty tidbits yet. I’ve merely learned how creative I can be when I don’t want to do housework.

Prospective employers will now Google job candidates. FYI, some also look on Myspace to see what they can find out. We need to arm ourselves with a new mindset to protect our privacy.

Have you Googled your name?