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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Posts
    130

    Default How to Get Your Personal Info Removed From a Personal Search Website

    My question involves court procedures for the state of: CT

    Hi - hope this is the right subforum

    I found my personal info on one of these personal search websites. I have used the contact form several times, asking to have the info taken down, and to op-out. No response.

    I contacted GoDaddy, who hosts the domain, and they refuse to help me, citing the fact that there is no illegal activity happening. They said they would not do anything without a court order.

    First, is it true that the hosting company is not required to do anything if there is no illegal activity, and that I really need a court order? Do they actually have the right to deny my request to have the info taken down?

    Second, how would I go about getting a court order?

    Any other options anyone can recommend?

    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Re: How to Get Your Personal Info Removed From a Personal Search Website

    If this is public information, odds are you're going to have to live with its being on the Internet.

    GoDaddy has every right to refuse to take down a customer's site, merely becomes somebody contacts them and states that they object to something that is on that site. They would be in breach of their contract with their customer if they did so.

    In broad terms, what is the nature of this information? For example, are we talking about a background check site that reveals your past cities of residence and perhaps some work history? Are we talking about a mugshot site? Some other type of site?

    Is the information accurate?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    18,340

    Default Re: How to Get Your Personal Info Removed From a Personal Search Website

    Once something is on the internet it's like whack-a-mole. Get it off one site it pops up on another.

    A lot of your personal stuff got out there because it's not "legally" private.

    The way you get a court order against an entity is you sue that entity.

    Which would be a waste of money since nothing illegal is going on.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Posts
    130

    Default Re: How to Get Your Personal Info Removed From a Personal Search Website

    Thanks for the responses.

    So, does a person not have the right to choose to have their personal info not displayed on a public website? If it displayed, and nothing illegal is going on, does the site really have the legal right to continue to display it against the person's wishes?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    18,340

    Default Re: How to Get Your Personal Info Removed From a Personal Search Website

    Quote Quoting riffwraith
    View Post
    Thanks for the responses.

    So, does a person not have the right to choose to have their personal info not displayed on a public website?
    Pretty much, no.

    Quote Quoting riffwraith
    View Post

    If it displayed, and nothing illegal is going on, does the site really have the legal right to continue to display it against the person's wishes?
    Pretty much, yes.

    It's just a fact of life that we all have to live with in this computer/internet age.

    It annoys me, too.

    Probably annoys everybody who googles their name and finds out how much information is out there. Or who googles their address and sees an aerial photo of their back yard and a photo of the front of their house.

    If you own a house I can look up when you bought it, who you bought it with, who you bought it from, how much you paid for it, and how much you borrowed to buy it. I can find out how much you pay a year for taxes.

    Criminal and civil court records are easily accessible.

    You'd be amazed as to how much about you is out there.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Posts
    130

    Default Re: How to Get Your Personal Info Removed From a Personal Search Website

    I don't know. It clearly, and without needing a subscription, displays my phone numbers, all of my old addresses, some relatives, all of my old employers, and all of the domains that I own. I do not see how they have the legal right to publicly display this info, if the individual does not want it displayed.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Posts
    8,006

    Default Re: How to Get Your Personal Info Removed From a Personal Search Website

    I'd be curious how they got your employer list but it is all public information unless you take steps to try to keep it private, which doesn't always work anyway. They just aggregate it for easier access.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: How to Get Your Personal Info Removed From a Personal Search Website

    Quote Quoting riffwraith
    View Post
    I don't know. It clearly, and without needing a subscription, displays my phone numbers, all of my old addresses, some relatives, all of my old employers, and all of the domains that I own. I do not see how they have the legal right to publicly display this info, if the individual does not want it displayed.
    Because it is all considered public information. The law does not prohibit the publishing of public information.

    Look, about 8 years ago, someone took offense at one of the answers I gave on another board. He dug into public records and published, on hundred of threads on three different boards including this one, my name, my husband's name, my address, phone number, employment information, my husband's employment information, and a few other things I don't immediately recall. All three boards cooperated with me and took them down, but they didn't have to. If they'd wanted to, they could have left every single one up. Why? Because the information was obtained from public records.

    Just as yours was.

    Public records are public. That's why they're called, Public. If you want to privatize them, be my guest. But to LEGALLY make public records private will take a lot more than a request to GoDaddy. Think, court order. (Which you're unlikely to get, but that's another thread.)

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