Our Online Footprint

A buzz-worthy phrase of late has been ‘Your online footprint.’  Google alerts are filled with this concept and hit our inbox each afternoon with new information on the implications of our ‘online footprint.’  But do consumers really have an understanding of how much of their information is available online?  Or for that matter do they know how to manage it?

Imagine this, as a teenager in early-2000 you signed up for MySpace.  You added all your friends, interests and information to this page.  When you got into college you were over the moon that Facebook would be available to you.  Even before moving into your dorm you have your contact information, friends list and personal information stocked and your wall is full of friends posting about the most personal details. 

Late in college and in your early career you’d like a place for your professional information (LinkedIn), a place to share your interests (Pinterest), a place to share your most embarrassing music interests (Spotify), a place to show what place you’re at (Foursquare) and heck how about a place to update people on what you’re doing at the place you’re at (Twitter.)  It is not uncommon for a normal twenty something to have their information plastered on 7-8 massive social networks.

A common misconception online is that this information is protected.  The problem is with many of these networks it’s easy to miss or simply forget about the basic privacy settings provided which can allow any stranger to see any information you’ve provided.  This is a can of worms we’d prefer to remain closed.

With this and many other thoughts in mind Intelius has developed TrueRep.  TrueRep is a unique, innovative new product that helps answer the question, how do I manage my ‘online footprint?’

TrueRep is designed to help you:

• Learn what information is available about you online.
• Control your privacy by giving you the option to suppress your most recent contact information from appearing on Intelius websites.
• Track and manage your online reputation through TrueRep's proprietary Reputation Score.
• Add explanatory comments to background checks that others may order on you from Intelius websites.

It’s a reality that our information is spread throughout the web and it’s up to us to corral it, understand and control it.  TrueRep for the first time allows users to have access to their information in one central location.  Your ‘online footprint’ suddenly doesn’t seem so daunting.

-Ian Dinsmore