Chixe

Okay - my embarassing story: my entrance to the net was by way of a personal blog (now defunct). I had a blind date with a guy once, and wrote all the "I hate this guy because he is fat, ugly blah blah blah" on my blog.

However, I still continued talking to him, until one day he says, I found your blog online. I was so embarassed. He is like, well, I gained weight because of a health condition etc. I felt like I wanted to just curl up and die. He was a champ about it though and to this day we are friends - oddly enough.

Wow, I didn't even realize my number was out there (someone skimmed my whois info I think and put it on a page). Creepy.

I've looked for my last 4 phone numbers, none are out there.

I too am phone numerically untraceable online. Of course, I hate phones so that's probably why.

My just shows my phonebook listing. Not scary at all.

On the other hand, we're hiring for a couple of positions right now and we've been doing a lot of background-info seeking searches.

If you're looking for a job, you should definitely be looking at search listings for your name (and your name +college, +current city, etc).

I do hear that a lot of job applicants are googled by their potential employers. What they post on blogs largely decide whether they get the job or not.

It's the pros and cons of the net. I, personally, do not have the skills, but I bet every morsel of my life including all email and sites I've checked out, price of my home, my employment, the car I lease etc. can be known if you know how to look for it. If I'm in the position of applying for a job or I'm interviewing others for a job, it's only fair (I do not consider it an invasion of privacy) that this and other info be known.