Digital Safety DiscoTech: Search for yourself and set up Google alerts

Prepared by Samuel Mendez

Our Digital Safety Kit for Public Health helps public health professionals and students reduce the harm of online harassment and anti-science aggression. But we recognize that it can be hard to know where to start. And we know it can be hard to make time to act on our recommendations on your own. So, we’re offering this DIY Digital Safety DiscoTech guide to help you create community spaces for digital safety at your organization. This section provides information on Googling yourself. See the full DIY Digital Safety Disoctech guide for more. 

Why should I Google myself right now?

One common harassment tactic is doxing: widely sharing someone’s personal information, such as their home address and cell phone number. Searching for your own personal information helps you figure out what someone else might find. Doing this before a potential emergency gives you the time to remove personal information you don’t want easily accessible. This can also give you a chance to change some of your own data privacy practices.

How do I Google myself?

Use information someone might gather from your resume, public bios, or university directory. Use different combinations of current and past names, schools, employers, and places of residence. You could also perform similar searches for people you currently live with, or those you’ve lived with in the past.

Perform these kinds of searches on multiple search engines. Also perform them on social media. Also search for yourself on popular databases like: PeopleFinders, Spokeo,  PeekYou, BeenVerified, and Whitepages.

Why should I set up Google Alerts?

Set up Google Alerts to automate this search process long-term. This will allow you to receive updates when new Google search results pop up for your specific search terms.

How do I set up Google Alerts?

Set up google alerts by visiting this URL: google.com/alerts. Enter different combinations of search terms. Customize the notification settings to your comfort level.

How do I find where photos of myself appear online?

Do a reverse image search to find where specific photos appear online. Follow the instructions on Google’s official Help Center page: Search with an image on Google. In light of Google’s orientation around advertising, compare your results with an alternative like TinEye.

If there is mis/disinformation circulating about you online, authors may just use headshots from a school/university website or a social media profile picture. Start a reverse image search with those kinds of images.