Personal Data revealed online... anything I can do?
Discussion
I have an unusual name in real life and if I search online I get the same old five or six results everytime. I have no formal online or social media presence and the only hits relate to old (more than 10 years old) events.
Yesterday I Googled myself and found my name and address revealed on the first page of Google hits.
The information relates to an historical planning application and reveals my name, full address, and the link to the full application details.
I knew that a planning application meant that my address would be searchable through the Council's online planning portal. But only through the planning portal and the searcher must know the address first.
A person couldn't simply search names on Google and get another person's planning application history.
My concern is - bluntly - someone used to follow me - I ceased contact with this person, moved etc.
Without knowing my address this person could never have found me.
I felt fine doing a planning application as my details were only accessible for the purposes of planning, only via the Council portal and you had to know the address anyway to start the search.
Now, this person only has to Google my name and hey presto! my address appears...
Is this revealing of information regulated at all - do I have any grounds to ask the Council to not make my address available on searching my name on Google?
The Council must have changed their data policy recently to allow access to Google searches as this data didn't appear when I last searched a couple of months ago.
Yesterday I Googled myself and found my name and address revealed on the first page of Google hits.
The information relates to an historical planning application and reveals my name, full address, and the link to the full application details.
I knew that a planning application meant that my address would be searchable through the Council's online planning portal. But only through the planning portal and the searcher must know the address first.
A person couldn't simply search names on Google and get another person's planning application history.
My concern is - bluntly - someone used to follow me - I ceased contact with this person, moved etc.
Without knowing my address this person could never have found me.
I felt fine doing a planning application as my details were only accessible for the purposes of planning, only via the Council portal and you had to know the address anyway to start the search.
Now, this person only has to Google my name and hey presto! my address appears...
Is this revealing of information regulated at all - do I have any grounds to ask the Council to not make my address available on searching my name on Google?
The Council must have changed their data policy recently to allow access to Google searches as this data didn't appear when I last searched a couple of months ago.
I don't have any issue with the info being public.
I consented to it being published on the Council website - where planning info is only accessible via the Planning Portal where you already know the address.
Think of putting your car reg number into Google and getting your MOT and tax history without having to go to the relevant government websites.
That's my issue - it's people searching for me who are given my address not people searching for public planning info.
I consented to it being published on the Council website - where planning info is only accessible via the Planning Portal where you already know the address.
Think of putting your car reg number into Google and getting your MOT and tax history without having to go to the relevant government websites.
That's my issue - it's people searching for me who are given my address not people searching for public planning info.
Having investigated further I can see now that it is only my application data that is available via Google.
None of the other properties or people I've found via the Council's website can be searched via Google.
The Planning Portal seems to be meant to be closed to Google searches - which is good - but for some reason my data has been revealed.
None of the other properties or people I've found via the Council's website can be searched via Google.
The Planning Portal seems to be meant to be closed to Google searches - which is good - but for some reason my data has been revealed.
There are so few hits returned that the source of the info is clear.
There seems to be a reluctant acknowledgement from them that it is their fault - but also a reluctance to engage with it as significant or in any way requiring correction.
It's very hard to think of a similar scenario where this could happen but say, for example....
There's an official register of nurses, social workers, doctors, teachers etc etc etc.
Imagine you're a stalker and you used to stalk Phyllis Augustinius as a teenager - but she moved away and you didn't know her new address or anything. But you really want to find her because you loved her so much.
When the internet came along you started Googling her every month sometimes every day
Phyllis became a social worker but you didn't know this.
Phyllis is named on the social workers register and if you know someone is a social worker or want to check their credentials you can check on the register.
But it's not open to Google - the registration details of social workers don't just appear in random google name searches.
You don't have to register to search the database but you actually have to click into the Social Workers register website and input their name or workplace to check if someone is registered.
None of this info is collected or disseminated further by Gooogle.
The MOT and Car Tax databases are similar in structure to this - they are not open to Goggle searches but are nonetheless 'public'.
You (as a stalker) keep Googling hopefully Phyllis Augustinius because it's such a rare name but nothing ever comes up and you can't search more specifically beacuse you don't know where she lives or what job she does.
Then one day, Phyllis has to update her registration as a social worker, someone presses the wrong inputting button and the next time you the stalker search Google - you get Phyllis Augustinius - Social Wroker - Barnet mental health trust, care of the elderly etc etc.
Now you the stalker can track her down.
Phyllis Googles herself because she's always remembered how psycho you were, and suddenly sees her workplace revealed on the internet - and screams!!!
She complains to the Social Work Register who argue - that the register is public information anyway and they couldn't stop people from searching the register or remove her name.....
And Phyllis is left trying to explain why the way they've leaked 'public' information is wrong...
Probably one for the ICO in the end
There seems to be a reluctant acknowledgement from them that it is their fault - but also a reluctance to engage with it as significant or in any way requiring correction.
It's very hard to think of a similar scenario where this could happen but say, for example....
There's an official register of nurses, social workers, doctors, teachers etc etc etc.
Imagine you're a stalker and you used to stalk Phyllis Augustinius as a teenager - but she moved away and you didn't know her new address or anything. But you really want to find her because you loved her so much.
When the internet came along you started Googling her every month sometimes every day
Phyllis became a social worker but you didn't know this.
Phyllis is named on the social workers register and if you know someone is a social worker or want to check their credentials you can check on the register.
But it's not open to Google - the registration details of social workers don't just appear in random google name searches.
You don't have to register to search the database but you actually have to click into the Social Workers register website and input their name or workplace to check if someone is registered.
None of this info is collected or disseminated further by Gooogle.
The MOT and Car Tax databases are similar in structure to this - they are not open to Goggle searches but are nonetheless 'public'.
You (as a stalker) keep Googling hopefully Phyllis Augustinius because it's such a rare name but nothing ever comes up and you can't search more specifically beacuse you don't know where she lives or what job she does.
Then one day, Phyllis has to update her registration as a social worker, someone presses the wrong inputting button and the next time you the stalker search Google - you get Phyllis Augustinius - Social Wroker - Barnet mental health trust, care of the elderly etc etc.
Now you the stalker can track her down.
Phyllis Googles herself because she's always remembered how psycho you were, and suddenly sees her workplace revealed on the internet - and screams!!!
She complains to the Social Work Register who argue - that the register is public information anyway and they couldn't stop people from searching the register or remove her name.....
And Phyllis is left trying to explain why the way they've leaked 'public' information is wrong...
Probably one for the ICO in the end
I'm as sure as I can be that it's not open.
I've looked up known results from their website and then tried to find them via Google - with most (90% plus) not returning any matches even with additional identifying search terms such as postcode and the nature of the application.
I wonder if it's someone who just keys the data in differently to everybody else - perhaps not ticking or ticking a box that other people do/don't
When I tried the robots link - it just showed an entirely blank page - like your Manchester example but with no text at all...
I've looked up known results from their website and then tried to find them via Google - with most (90% plus) not returning any matches even with additional identifying search terms such as postcode and the nature of the application.
I wonder if it's someone who just keys the data in differently to everybody else - perhaps not ticking or ticking a box that other people do/don't
When I tried the robots link - it just showed an entirely blank page - like your Manchester example but with no text at all...
I think I understand what you're saying but .. not 100% sure.
There are very few hits for my name at all on google. If I put it in quotation marks - maybe half a dozen if even that. The only results which link name and address are those related to this issue and they are all from the same site. If google was following the link from another site, surely that would appear in the results too?
There are very few hits for my name at all on google. If I put it in quotation marks - maybe half a dozen if even that. The only results which link name and address are those related to this issue and they are all from the same site. If google was following the link from another site, surely that would appear in the results too?
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