Whether you are in business, freelancing, or just applying for a job, online reputation management is essential.
We all usually search Google anyone we will work in a business or employment capacity, and most future employers or clients will do the same.
Radaris is one of the popular tools that your connections may use to search your profile. Radaris is an aggregate search site, which searches specifically for profile information. It is beneficial for profiling since standard search engine results won’t come up with such detailed personal reports, only popular results seem to surface.
Radaris’ search algorithm searches specifically for certain types of information related directly to a name and to specific to a person that is usually with address, approximate age, and any known relative so you can find the right profile.
Radaris has a disclaimer that indicates the information cannot be used for credit checks, tenant vetting, employment, or anything else official, but more than likely people still do. Besides official searches, privacy and reputation are important to all of us.
So if the information is wrong or harmful, how do you get it removed from Radaris?
Requesting Removal From Radaris
There are two routes to go by for removing your information. The first is to follow the Radaris information removal process.
1. Requesting control of information from Radaris:
- Click on the “Control your information” link at the bottom of the page.
- Select your profile and register, where you will need to provide proof of identity documents.
- Follow the steps required to remove information.
If this doesn’t work (some have reported that it does not) or if insufficient information is removed, then the removal process is to contact Radaris by email or fax to request removal of the data, and the follow-up the request, until the request is actioned.
1 Write a cover letter detailing the information that you request to be removed.
2 Include a copy of your state or federal photo ID which includes your name, address, and date of birth.
3 Include a screenshot of the information concerned from the Radaris website.
4 Email the documents to customer-service@radaris.com, or fax to (800) 861-9713.
If this still doesn’t work, Radaris provide more information and some videos on their how to remove information page.
2. Removing Information at the Source
The problem with removing your name from Radaris is that it’s a search algorithm. The information will still show up at its source. The second, a much longer, but a more effective strategy for removing information from Radaris, is to remove your information from all the source sites where Radaris gets their information.
This means removing all unwanted information from sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, ensuring your phone numbers are unlisted, and contacting third-party sites who have your information. Essentially you need to approach every possible source of online information about you, and request for your details to be removed. This is not possible for the case of public records, because of the freedom of information act (FOIA) where the first route is your best bet.
Here is the list of the public sources which Radaris uses to obtain information:
- Local government
- County registries
- Police reports
- Criminal records websites
- Licenses registries
- Deeds registries
- Local and state phone directories
- USPTO
- White Pages
- Publicrecords.directory
- PublicRecords360.com
- PublicRecords.com
In the cases of online information that is not public, Radaris provides a list of sources you can approach.
- Experian
- Acxiom
- Transunion
- LexisNexis
- Dun & Bradstreet
- Datalogix
- Epsilon
- Equifax
- Reed Elsevier
- Rapleaf
- Intelius
- USPTO
- Intelius.com
- Beenverified.com
- Instantcheckmate.com
- Truthfinder.com
- Spokeo.com
- Whitepages.com
- Peekyou.com
- USSearch.com
- PeopleFinder.com
- PeopleFinders.com
- PeopleLookup.com
- Familytreenow.com
- PeopleSmart.com
- Yatedo.com
- PeopleWise.com
- Nuwber.com
- MyRelatives.com
- RealDirect.com
- Telephonedirectories.us
- Number2name.com
- Everify.com
- Check-caller.com
- People-finders.ws
- Instantpeoplefinder.com
- Callersmart.com
- Hauziz.com
- Datagovus.com
- Truepeoplesearch.com
- Allareacodes.com
- Peoplebyname.com
- Voterrecords.com
- Ancestry.com
- Peekyou.com
- PrivateEye.com
- Zabasearch.com
- USA-People-Search.com
- Spoke.com
- CheckThem.com
- DOBSearch.com
- MyLife.com
- IDtrue.com
- 411.com
A lengthy process, but if privacy is what you are after, this is what is required. The list is huge, and again, only private information can be removed, public records are unfortunately public information.
On top of this, Radaris includes search engines in their list of data sources:
- Bing
In the same way that Radaris is an aggregate information site, other search engines, such as Google and Bing, of course, cannot remove information from the web. You will need to go to the source of the information, the owners of the websites who have made the information available to search engines.
This again can be very time-consuming, but if it’s important to you, then you need to do an extensive search under your name on multiple platforms to find all the sources of information, then contact them to request removal.
Adding each of the names in the list above to your name in the search term should help to track down rogue information (“Your Name + Truepeoplesearch.com” for example).
A final word with regard to search, it is rather difficult to have negative information removed, it is always easier to create good information with which to replace it. Push the offending search results to page 2 where few bother to look.
If you’re not happy with how your profile looks, consider adding more of your achievements and positive information into your profile on LinkedIn or Facebook, and contribute positive articles to popular sites, then at least the good information will begin to outrank the bad.