Best Way To Clear Your Name Online? 888
An anonymous reader writes "About fifteen years ago, I did something that I've come to regret on a university computer system. I was subsequently interviewed by a Federal law enforcement agency, although no charges were pressed and I have no criminal record as a result of my actions. At the time, I discussed the matter with a friend of mine who went on to mention it briefly in a text file zine with a small distribution list. I've generally tried to keep a low profile online and until recently there's been very little information about me available from the major search engines. Unfortunately, that zine mention was picked up by textfiles.com at some point and mirrored across the world. I've tried to address this with the owner of the site, but couldn't get anywhere. Even if my name in the source file is altered, cached copies will continue to link me with my youthful mistake. Have any other Slashdot readers had a similar experience? What practical steps would your readers recommend to prevent this information from hurting me? I am concerned that future employers may hold my past actions against me should they look for me online as part of their screening process."
Go Buddhist (Score:4, Interesting)
There is no way you can track down all those bits and alter/destroy them. Regardless fo the legality, it is impossible from a legal perspective.
Go Buddhist, give up everything, change your name, (your SSN will stay, IIRC) and reinvent yourself. Seems to me to be a lot for a stupid text file. As someone who would work at a summer camp, I would disappear 3 months out of the year to the world outside the camp. I'd come back fresh, refreshed and unencumbered. Live off the net for a while and see how really irrelevant it is to the Real World.
or just maybe remove all the link destinations?
Game the system... (Score:2, Interesting)
Of course, if someone wants to they can find every detail on you, but you can divert them intelligently by using the internet. Think it over.
I see the other end of this problem rather often (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm a long-term Rocky Horror Picture Show cast member, and I run a web site [austinrocky.org] for our local cast in Austin. I've been running this web site for over a decade now.
Cast members are frequently very interested to see photographs of themselves performing in the show. And since it's Rocky Horror, they're usually wearing lingerie of some sort. At the time the photos are posted, they're invariably very excited about this. Especially because I take pride in my photography, and most people haven't seen photos of themselves prior to this that someone had actually put significant work into.
A few years later though, these same people have frequently quit the cast, possibly graduated from college, and moved on to other activities. They may decide they want to apply for jobs in education, as music minister of a church, etc. They do some vanity searching on Google and are shocked... shocked I tell you!... that the Rocky Horror cast web site is still online and kicking with what had been posted some years previously.
Now keep in mind this is a hobby web site that I do purely for the enjoyment of myself and other cast members. It's done in my spare time, and I've always paid for it out of pocket.
I'm sure I could honor requests to remove all of these photos, but I simply don't want to. It involves a lot of time and effort on my end, to accomplish something that's actively taking away from things I take pride in myself. I get probably a half dozen requests per year on average at this point all basically saying the same thing: "Take down my photos now! You're causing damage to my reputation!". At some point I just had to say to hell with them all and whip up a form letter response saying "Sorry, but I'm just not going to do anything about it".
you bet I've had similar concerns (Score:5, Interesting)
In fact, it bugs me nearly every day:
A few years ago I was living in a place for just a few weeks and using the computer that came with the room there. Unfortunately, I apparently left my browser with the cookie or whatever that automatically logged me into gmail account. So, some asshole came along after I left and used the opportunity to use my email account to register for some forum that discusses getting Viagra in all kinds of illegal ways. My gmail address is basically exactly my name.
So every time I apply for a job, every time I apply for an apartment or whatever, when I meet a girl etc, I feel like someone's going to Google me and nearly the first result that pops up is all this crap about all kinds of illegal ways of getting Viagra for recreation use etc. It's a nightmare. I've done everything I can to email administrators of the forum (which has now seemed to be swallowed up into other forums so the same posts appear on several different sites) but no one ever returns my emails no matter how much I explain the situation. Due to the nature of my work, I'm very confident this has in fact impacted my career. I don't want to think about things like potential girlfriends, housemates, people generally interested in what I've done in the (scientific) community I work in, etc.
If anyone has any ideas for me on what I could do it would be IMMENSELY valuable to me. I'm very glad this has come up on Slashdot.
Re:Nothing you can do... (Score:5, Interesting)
Society needs to wake-up and realize punishing someone for what they did 20 years ago is ridiculous. Nobody is perfect. It's like what Harlan Ellison said on Sci-Fi Channel: "People accuse me of contradicting myself because 30 years ago I said this or that. And they're right. That's because 30 years ago I was young and stupid, and now I'm older and wiser and changed my mind. judge me on who I am today, now when I was some young brat."
IMHO just as thre's a 7-year stature of limitations on law, so too should employers have a limitation on how far back they can dig. Anything that predates this decade should be irrelevant.
Sorry for the typos - I'm typing on a mac.
I'm not usd to this keyboard'
Re:Why bother? (Score:3, Interesting)
How about telling the truth?
It probably happened a decade ago. Even if I did find it I am not so sure that I would put a lot of credence in an old BBS text file from that long ago.
If I was interviewing and had found that I might ask about it.
If I got the answer "Yes I had a little talk with my university about that and they let me off with a warning, boy did I learn from that!" I would probably mark it down as a positive.
If I got a No not me never did that and you started to sweat I would keep looking.
If it was in a position that required a security clearance then you better tell the truth. They will find it and they will go there and find out if it was you. If you lied you will NEVER get a clearance ever.
You did it, it is documented. Odds are nobody will care if you tell the truth. They will care if you lie.
Re:The best thing you can do is post on /. (Score:1, Interesting)
I think his name is "Dave" see this:
http://audio.textfiles.com/conferences/PHREAKYBOYS/
Depends (Score:3, Interesting)
It has little or nothing to do with "society".
Did you rape and murder my sister while burglarizing her house 15 years ago?
If you did, and you get out of jail, I am going to cut your nuts off, first.
Re:Not keeping low profile? (Score:2, Interesting)
In the UK you can. It's against human rights and all that, calling people criminals - even if they are.
Re:It has been 20 minutes... (Score:1, Interesting)
Jesse Hirsh
http://textfiles.com/politics/SPUNK/sp001201.txt
In early march of 1995 (about 15 years ago) he was arrested for "Unauthorized Use Of A Computer on the University of Toronto's network.
The prosecution withdrew the charges and just paid a fine to the university. (So he doesn't have a criminal record)
Re:welleee (Score:3, Interesting)
As I said in another post, it depends.
Was it a childhood prank gone bad, resulting in some property damage? Was it a clever exploitation of some loophole? That might be a demonstration of initiative, motivation, and creativity. OTOH, he got caught. Does that demonstrate a lack of forethought and an inability to plan ahead?
Was it a drive-by shooting with three people injured or killed? That's different.
Re:welleee (Score:4, Interesting)
The problem is that others have taken it upon themselves to take responsibility for him. Or rather, not to take responsibility for him.
Bottom line, if an employer was willing to dismiss you based hearsay(which this effectively is), or even a verified incident in your past that resulted in no charges, then you are better off not working for that employer. Find yourself a job in a small to medium business without HR drones, where you can actually shake hands with the boss during the interview and even have an opportunity to bring up the incident if you feel it would concern them. Even at half the pay, it'll be twice the job. That's how you find employment.
If you're only sending by-the-numbers CVs to faceless companies, expect a by-the-numbers response.
Re:I Don't Worry (Score:3, Interesting)
If you consider something at "University" a Youth Mistake. Most people are generally at the age of adulthood since then.
I did some very stupid and immature stuff in college. Luckily none of it is evident on the Internet. I am a very different person now.
As a Pro Tip: Make a Facebook Account, spend 1 weekend on it putting a few non-embarassing pictures, Change your status to something positive, and never touch it again. It'll get picked up on Google and the images you're tagged in - blamo, that small thing is going to the bottom of the list.
Or create your own website with domain name matching your real life name, with at least your phone number and resume.
And post to technical mailing lists using your real name. All that stuff will probably come high on Google compared
to that zine. Stop keeping a low profile.
Is the Submitter Jesse Hirsh? (Score:5, Interesting)
I found it by doing a search on google for "site:textfiles.com university computer system" and it came up as the first match
The Anarchives [textfiles.com]
In early march of 1995 I was arrested for "Unauthorized Use Of A Computer". (About 15 years ago)
I was being accused of breaking into the computer systems at the University Of Toronto for the purpose of publishing "Anarchist newsletters".
---------------
Doing a little bit more research shows that Jesse Hirsh is also a contributor to Slash Code:
http://www.slashcode.com/docs/AUTHORS [slashcode.com]
Re:I see the other end of this problem rather ofte (Score:1, Interesting)
Maybe this argument may work with people who don't actually know how little effort it is to change a webpage. Especially something as trivial as removing some images.
While I'm not homophobic like the guy above me, you are being a dick.
Re:welleee (Score:3, Interesting)
Be a man and take responsibility for your actions.
That still won't get you the job though will it?
If you had two applicants for a job that were pretty much equal in all respects except that one had been interviewed by the feds for something untoward and one hadn't, which one would you hire? I'd certainly lean towards the one that never got caught for anything... even if he's just as devious, at least he's not dumb enough to get caught!
Re:Is the Submitter Jesse Hirsh? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I Don't Worry (Score:2, Interesting)
The drinking laws in the US are moronic.
If you are old enough to go and shoot someone in a war, or get killed defending your country, you should certainly be considered old enough to drink.
The US should either raise the age of entry into the army to 21 or lower the drinking age to 18, like most of the rest of the world.
Re:Is the Submitter Jesse Hirsh? (Score:1, Interesting)
Just leave it to /. to figure out the guy's name and make his problems even worse.
Hi, Everyone! (Score:3, Interesting)
Just wanted to mention how Slashdot never fails to disappoint.
For the record, textfiles.com has no ads. None. Going to it or not going to it doesn't affect my revenue/income particularly. I don't run that site for money.
But if you'd rather hear a much funnier story about the legal threats I get, please watch my video That Awesome Time I Was Sued for Two Billion Dollars [vimeo.com].
Spread Disinformation (Score:5, Interesting)
Create multiple websites about you. In one, you were a beer-drinking guy who moved to the Barbados. Not you.
In another, you authored multiple books and magazine columns. Might be you.
A few more randomly generated ones and some near-look-alikes and you're done. They won't know what to believe. Oh and set a tracker on the websites, so you can see which ones your prospective employer visited (ID them by their IP)
Re:3 thoughts (Score:3, Interesting)
Are you still friends with the writer of the zine? Ask them to send a DMCA notice. Don't know if it would work, but may be worth a shot.
Or you could just send a DMCA notice yourself. You have no right to request a takedown, but that doesn't stop big media companies.
Re:Not really. (Score:5, Interesting)
In most years, if an employer turned me down for something like that, I'd laugh it off. I get leads all the time. Then again...
The most common thread I've observed as a long term consultant is that every company out there thinks that their team needs to be "extremely elite" because their product is "extremely important" and therefore their employees need to be "perfect". Every team I've worked with seems to beat their chests with that stuff, mainly because they're so out of touch with the rest of the industry that they don't realize that their little b2b app is run of the mill, that their development team isn't any more skilled than the last team you worked with, and that their management isn't any smarter and their work environment isn't any better than anyone else. When there's a down economy, every company out there thinks they're the best because so many people apply for jobs with them.
My advice to anyone who's turned down for a job in general is to ask as many questions as you can about WHY you were turned down. They'll usually be hesitant to give you any info about it, but they're technically supposed to give you at least a general reason. If you at least know why you're not getting work, you can take that and go after someone who's got something on you up on the net. Asking politely doesn't work, you've got to have your lawyer call that guy to make something like that happen. Asking those questions saved my career...I was beating my head against the wall a couple years back trying to get a job, only to find out that one of my references who told me he would give me a reference, wasn't actually allowed to give them out. I asked every recruiter I had contacted until I found out which reference was screwing me out of work.
Re:Is the Submitter Jesse Hirsh? (Score:5, Interesting)
Just look at all the talks he gives about the internet on this youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7taUhf_ROU [youtube.com]
He also has a very large web presence and searches on Google for him never yielded anything about him breaking into the computer system.
It was only with the critical piece of information about "textfiles.com" was I able to find anything on Google about his past.
For me, this is a little bit too convenient and highly suspicious based on the type of work he is involved with, especially as a tech commentator on the radio in Canada.
Re:welleee (Score:5, Interesting)
But the poster has not matured. We know this because this mental child asks the question "How do I hide the shit I have done?".
That's quite a leap you just made there, judging a guy's mental state from one paragraph. It is not necessarily "immature" to wish to stop being punished. Heck, my Mom still holds a grudge against me for absent-mindedly leaving three 1/2 gallons of ice cream on the counter to melt -- 25 years ago. Am I immature for wishing she'd let that go? Am I still unable to properly store perishable foodstuffs? I assume you know. But this guy's case is quite different, you say? Please, share the details.
Re:welleee (Score:3, Interesting)
You could create a phantom entity on facebook, myspace, etc and link him to the incident. Give the phantom the same name, but make if obvious to anyone reading the profile that it could not be you. It might help if you had your own glowingly innocent profile on the same site.
Sort of like a virtual scapegoat....