Your View

Devin from Lethbridge: Y'know, Google isn't responsible for your name (and whatever related content) coming up on their search engine.

I think you misunderstand.

All Google does is look on the internet for words that match what you type into the search bar.

Really if you've got a beef with anybody it's whoever has the content that has your name or "private" information.

However, if you were convicted of a crime it becomes public knowledge, chances are that information is readily available to the public anyway.

Threatening to sue Google for finding words that spell your name that happen to be really about you is laughable at best. I'd be really surprised if somebody took a legal threat like that seriously.

I'm really not so sure I understand the fear of having your "identity" available on-line. My name is in the phone book; anyone can look it up (along with my address) any time they want...and probably from anywhere in the world.

I'm in business. What kind of an idiot would I be to try to hide my identity? If I was the CEO of a major corporation, would there be some way I could remain incognito?

You can look me up on the internet, see a photo of me, see my personal history, and discover how I feel about some social subjects. I'm not embarrassed to be "outed."

This subject of on-line identity seems rife with paranoia.

Don't do anything on-line that you wouldn't do in "real life," don't say anything you'd be ashamed to say to a "real person," don't share extremely personal details (sexual preferences, for example) and you'll probably be okay. If someone wants to steal your identity there are a lot easier ways than going on-line.

I don't like using google for such nonsense.

My name shows a lot of these cbc stories that I post on, no big deal.

For a long time it linked my name to a sexual offender. What it actually was, was a petition trying to ban some man from moving to a community, and another Neil Williams signed this petition.

Just the way it looked on google's headline made it look like I was the offender, and you had to click the link to see the "Neil Williams" was just one of dozens signing this petition.

It also had old links, like my hockey stats from recreational college hockey from 13 years ago...pretty weird stuff.

I think googling people is morally wrong. There are some things that are not meant for the public's eye, things that are not anyone's business.

What gives you the right to type those characters in some new-fangled web browser and learn about my life, or about my troubled past?

I have personally written several complaints to Google to no avail; the search for my name still turns up several pages of results.

It's not my fault what I did. The doctors said it was temporary insanity, I believe them. What is so hard to understand that?

I have washed the blood off my hands and been pardoned by the justice system. I am free to travel anywhere on earth without being denied access for being a criminal.

But I can never escape the horror of google. It watches me everywhere I go.

Please google remove my name! I'm giving you 3 more days, and then I'm getting my lawyer.

Unlike many people I know, I try to use much discretion with my "online identity". Obviously any time I do use my own full name I try to be as well behaved as I would be in public.

Unfortunately we cannot effectively control electronic information once it is on the web. When I google my full name it shows up frequently in some technical work related discussion groups which I've participated in... I can only hope that a potential employer doesn't come across that and draw any negative inferences.

For that reason I do not use my full name on the CBC (though one time my browser's "autofill" function accidentally slipped my full name into a comment). I'm not too paranoid, since I have a flexible work schedule and commenting on these CBC topics mostly occurs during breaks and after work, I sometimes wonder if my boss secretly reads my comments without my knowledge?

I could certainly be more anonymous on this CBC webpage since I have a unique first name, and usually indicate my city. However I feel it is important to show that I am a real person in order to make sure my opinions carry some credibility.

I Google myself periodically and have go through a lot of pages to find myself and even then, it's such an obscure reference most folks wouldn't realise it was actually me.

Even my Facebook account doesn't show up.

This, I consider, to be a good thing.

Besides, my employers know I'm a "funny bunny" as in eccentric, and find it rather entertaining more than anything else.

I once went out on a blind date and you're darn right I googled him first!

I am retired but I do have friends who use Facebook and other sources to check out potential applicants for jobs in their companies.

I cannot believe that the enthusiastic young executive would allow a picture of himself, half naked with a beer in his hand, to have been placed on the Internet.

What are these young people thinking???

I recently Googled my name and was surprised at the number of hits I got. Oddly, there were some of the comments that I previously posted on the CBC "Your View" website.

My Google experience turned out to be very educational. I found out that "Cheera" is a common ingredient in Indian cooking. It means: "spinach". I think that is appropriate as I sometimes look a little wilted and am often in hot water!

I've googled myself occasionally, but I've always been pretty good about protecting my identity online. The first hit isn't even me (nobody is going to confuse me with an athlete), the second one is a reference to my senior technical report on a university professor's site. If you dig down a little further there are some technical discussions in relation to a job I held during university.

I've only ever googled myself out of pure curiosity, but I can see myself googling other people I know.

Ha ha ha ha. St. Roch. That gave me my best laugh of the day.

My name tends to come up in a lot of obituaries but that's about it.

Every now and then I'll google mine or my family member's names to see what comes up. I actually found one occurance of a document that was supposed to be contained on a secure server, but obviously wasn't.

Roch...Yes Roch is a Saint; however, from what I read on the google, I believe he was only the Patron Saint of Dogs, so I'm not sure you want to publicize that connection very much.

I've been googling people for years. I find it to be a rather effective way of determining how potential employees and business partners will act when they think that nobody is looking.

People tend to act as if the internet provides a layer of anonymity - and it certainly can if you go out of your way to set things up correctly - but most people don't put much effort into hiding themselves effectively.

It never fails to amuse me when I discover something an employee wrote 7 or 8 years ago and then bring it up with them - the internet never forgets, and if you know how to look, you can find a lot of interesting things!

As for myself, I do regularly google my own name just to see what comes up. Luckily though, my name is obscenly common so any information that is actually about me tends to get lost is the sea of hundreds of thosands of irrelevant search results!

Well I just googled myself and the main result is Saint Roch.

That's right, according to google I'm a saint, so it's about time I started getting a little more respect from some of you around here...

I've looked up myself, friends and family. Nothing salacious yet, but I'm sure that there will be in the future.