Good Sounding, Bad Idea # 13

You know the drill, fill in the blanks - your first name, then last. Next comes, in no particular order; your address, birthday, phone number and blood type. Well, maybe not your blood type, but sometimes the questions do get tedious and seem never-ending. But how aware are you of how many times you give your information away and which sites keep and sell your information?

Good Sounding, Bad Idea #13 is all about our Online Identity

The other night I was watching the local news when I saw a story about a new site, Spokeo, where the story claimed all personal information could be found. I was intrigued! As a girl who has been known to "Google" herself from time to time, I had to check this out. After doing my best investigative reporter search on Spokeo, all I found was some very outdated info including my address from 2006, when I lived in Missouri!

While Spokeo was a dud, it did make me question who has my info and how do they use it?

Many who know me, know I am a sucker. I will fall for anything, anytime and admit I am gullible. Soon after I bought my home, return address labels from three different nonprofits asking for a donation in exchange began showing up in my mailbox. Maybe it's because I work for a nonprofit, but most likely it's because I have a hard time saying no, I wrote out three checks to these different nonprofits and mailed them off. I did not expect in return to receive address labels from EVERY other nonprofit in the Universe. (thankfully the organization I work for does not do this) Now, whenever I open my mailbox and see these return labels inside, I feel a ping in my heart. I want to help, I mean some nonprofit paid for and sent these labels to me, but I had to draw the line somewhere so I do not and will not contribute again. Not to mention that sometimes they come spelled DiAnna - honestly, who spells their name like this?

Side story aside, I removed my information from the Spokeo site and have since been thinking very carefully about where I post my info and as well as who I give my info to!