The Reply from ZoomInfo

If you read my previous rant on those lovely people at ZoomInfo, I have received a response to my request

Thank you for writing to ZoomInfo. At your request, your web profile has been removed from ZoomInfo. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Splendid. But then there was this awkward bit:

Please understand that new information about you may appear on the Internet in the future. If you are active in any public arenas, such as board memberships, news interviews, community groups, conferences, seminars, professional organizations, etc., there is a high probability that these organizations will publish new information about you on their websites. In turn, ZoomInfo may read this new data and construct an independent profile that is not connected to the one you have asked to be removed.

So this search company, which specializes in publishing personal information only, may at some point, publish my personal information again. (For their own profit, mind you.) Why? Well...

ZoomInfo will exercise best efforts to remove this new information, but due to the automated nature of the process we cannot guarantee complete removal of future new information.

So they are capable of filtering non-personal information out of their results, like motorhomes or beach front property, but they are incapable of filtering out one of us, even if we ask them to not include us.

Also, keep in mind that reference to a removed web profile may continue to appear in external search engines such as Google or Yahoo until those companies index the ZoomInfo site and learn that the web profile no longer exists. ZoomInfo can do nothing to speed up this process.

And then, just to make sure I got the message, they included a hand drawing of a man using both hands to literally cover his own ass. The point remains the same. With the advent of public information being so much more public, you must remain vigilant about what's out there about you. Start a Google Alert for your own name. Do web searches as well for your name, perhaps with the city and/or state you live in. (It makes the search more accurate.) Also check on Google Images in case pictures of you from forever ago were finally scanned and uploaded by that boyfriend who is, apparently, still angry at you. Finally, make sure of what you're posting, and whether it is private or not! The Internet is replete with stories of job applicants who didn't get hired because the manager looked the applicant up on Myspace, and found pictures of what really goes on in American fraternities. As freeing as all of this socialization is, in the long run, you're better off trying to keep the majority of your private life private.

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)