Where to Hide? Part 1

I’ve written a bit about on-line privacy in the past months, and how can one ignore the topic with the N.S.A. scandal and the Snowden leaks.  In this and the next post I want to share a story each of on-line privacy issues from opposite directions.

 

The first and most recent story begins with a conversation I had over dinner with a guy who told me about his ex (which wasn’t all that “ex” as it turns out, but that’s a hole other topic and not for this blog). From the conversation I had gathered the following information:

-          Fairly popular first name, say Melanie

-          Occupation:  orthopedic surgeon

-          Previous employer: big sprawling hospital, say: NYU Medical Center

-          New employer:  somewhere near New Haven, CT

 

I was curious what the “ex” looked like, so I took to my browser not expecting much. It took me exactly 90 seconds to find her photo on-line. I found that more disturbing, than I was proud of my detective skills.

 

Maybe this just goes to show that hospitals do a very good job advertising their doctors, but I have the creeping suspicion that a repeat performance with different coordinates would result in similar results.  Have you tried?  How much do you manage your on-line persona?  Read the next blog entry (12/17/13) on the reverse issue – being found.