Claim your ID Follow-up

Already with a follow-up. I got an e-mail telling me something I did not know related to the ClaimID service. They have a Best Practices page on their website. Every web service should have a page like this.

http://claimid.com/bestpractices

Now while I did not know that the page existed, I was aware of some of these tips. I have had Google Alerts searches in place for over a year now. Not just searching for my own name, but also for my wife and two kids. I first learned that my wife set up a page at LinkedIn because of the Google Alert. And of course I quickly checked that it really was by her and about her. Whether or not you use ClaimID, running such searches on a regular basis are an important step in protecting your on-line identity.

And if you own a domain, don’t forget to check regularly to see what the search engines have that is pointing to your domain. Regrettably, when I search for SmallieFishing.com, I get hits on every page/article that discusses Smallmouth bass fishing. I guess that with my domain name, that’s not a bad thing.  I do need to keep up on that topic. 🙂

The ClaimID Best Practices also has a nice description of ways to improve a search by changing your search string. And while I rarely use search engines other than Google, they do give a good list that you can use.

One would think that a lot of these best practices would obvious just as good common sense. But even those of us who are interested in on-line identity protection can learn a new trick. You would think that as much as I depend on a spell checker, I would think of the value of searching for things by using common misspellings. While you may not get any interesting hits this way, I’d rather not miss something just because I assume everyone knows how to spell my 10 character last name.

If you have a suggestion for another best practice that could be applied here, please leave a comment. You might also consider e-mailing it to the ‘info’ at ‘claimid.com’ address.  Their page does say that will keep this list of best practices updated.   Pages like this are a very good thing.  And let’s not forget that the internet is more valuable when we all share our best practices.

More later, Ken S.

Claim your on-line identity

I went through high school thinking that I could be the last Schumacher. I’m the only son of an only son. Teachers back then seemed to find my last name difficult. I was sure they had not heard it before. Then I got to college and I found out that Schumacher is as common a name among Germans as Smith is to the English. Even knowing that, I was still surprised to find that there are eight Ken Schumacher’s in Illinois alone.

I have enjoyed writing web pages for many years. I would practice developing HTML by writing about my many hobbies.  As I begin writing this Blog, I need to update my ClaimId.com listing.  The listing has links to and short descriptions of the pages out there on the internet that are either by me or about me.  Where possible, ClaimId.com has also verified that I as the owner of the listing really are the person in control of that web page.  I verified most of the pages by putting a unique MicroID into the header of my web pages.  When I add the code, it demonstrates that I do have write access and/or control of the site I am verifying.

Do you see the value in maintaining this type of listing on ClaimId.com?  If I went on a job interview, I would expect a potential employer to do a Google search at the very least.  If I was hiring someone, I would want to make sure that the information I could find on-line agreed with what I learn of the candidate from his/her resume or after an interview.  Or let’s say you read one of my pages about on-line privacy.  It would hurt my credibility if you came across a site where someone else who shares my name had posted rantings about how good he is at breaking passwords.

My point is that since I do maintain a page at ClaimId.com, I am not concerned about my on-line integrity.  My integrity is tremendously important to me.  If you read on a web page where I mention how important my family is to me, I know you will find the same sentiment on all the other web pages I have written.

In simple terms, I see the ClaimId.com site/service to be a form of on-line identity protection.  No, it does not protect my social security number or other IDs.  But it does allow me to make it quite clear which pages one will find on the internet are mine and which are not. I recommend all web developers and bloggers use their service.  Their free service protects my integrity, and like I said, that is very important to me.

More later,  Ken S.

Disclosure: Other than being a verified and satisfied user of their site, I am in no way affiliated with ClaimId.com.

Update 12 Nov 2009: Please see the Claim your on-line Id follow-up posting.