Isn’t it time you knew?

What are you known for? By who? How and how well are you known?

WHAT you know, WHO you know, and WHAT you know about WHO sometimes matters less than WHO knows WHAT about YOU and WHY.

Knowledge is not power – but how what is known is used by who can be.

KNOWING and KNOWING ABOUT someone or something are NOT the same.

Few people really know anyone or anything well – especially from extensive personal experience; mostly they just “know” ABOUT what they were taught, told, or read and remembered. We are said to live in an Age of Information; not one of Knowledge or Wisdom – and certainly not Privacy and Anonymity.

Data is not the same as information nor information the same as knowledge. Knowledge is not the same as wisdom. Wisdom starts with knowing thyself.

To know me may not be to love me, but at least be open to the possibility!

Isn’t it time you knew me – and what many probably already do ABOUT you?

Most of what is known ABOUT us by anyone that we have not personally told or do not have some kind of shared experience or known relationship comes from Public Records, Financial Activity, and the Internet – especially anything posted by or about us on Social Media Networks and any personal websites.

How big is YOUR Electronic Footprint? How accurate is it? Look yourself up!

Search by name, phone number, email address, and social security number.

Even if you don’t, employers, lenders, creditors, insurers, nosey neighbors, curious daters, government, news, and law enforcement agencies often do.

There are also many companies that collect and consolidate personal “public” information about us from various sources. Below are some that are known:

123People.com
Acxiom.com
BeenVerified.com
DataCheck.com
DMAChoice.org
DOBSearch.com
Intelius.com
LexisNexis.com
MyLife.com
PeekYou.com
PeopleFinders.com
PeopleLookup.com
PeopleSmart.com
PhonesBook.com
Pipl.com
PrivateEye.com
PublicRecords.com
PublicRecordsNow.com
PublicSearchNow.com
Radaris.com
Spoke.com
Spokeo.com
USA-People-Search.com
USSearch.com
WhitePages.com
Zabasearch.com

Kroll.com
ThomsonReuters.com
USIS.com

Equifax.com
Experian.com
TransUnion.com

FBI, CIA, NSA, DOJ, TSA, DOD, DMV, SSA, IRS, and other alphabet agencies

Even those who do not KNOW us may (be able to) know quite a bit ABOUT us (that even we may not know – is known – or be able to find out from them).

Businesses often want to be better known in ways that increase profitability. Individuals generally prefer positive personal and professional reputations. While what others think may not be any of our business, it can be useful to know and correct what information others have and may share about us.

While it is possible to challenge, correct, or control some records, and “opt out” of individual sites, it is virtually impossible to even know all the places information about us is available in the virtual world we live in. Those who come closest usually limit, manage, and conceal what is known about them by carefully creating and utilizing multiple structured corporate entities.

Internet searches, sites visited, financial transactions, email, and cell phone usage are monitored, tracked, and analyzed by marketers and governments.

Unless you are “undocumented”, only deal in cash, and go to great trouble to conceal your identity, interactions, and activity, it is likely that far more than you might expect may be regarded as “public” information – available to all.

If you’re going to be known anyway, at least try to make a good impression.

That’s my perspective. What’s yours?

Don’t just be a lurker and try to hide. Share some of your thoughts below.
Get to know me. Let me get to know you. Read and comment on my posts.

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