Have you ever "Googled" yourself? Most of us have. Usually, there are a couple of surprises - someone may have posted details of the high school reunion for example - but they're rarely stunning.
That wasn't the case for a local woman who discovered her name and social security number had been inadvertently put online by her college. A report prepared for the state and supposed to be secure somehow ended up on the school's website.
The school took it down immediately, but it was already cached on Google. I emailed Google's public relations department (yeah, right.... I'll get answer) and to my surprise, got a reply within an hour. I gave the woman the link to the removal process. Not only did the public relations person reply quickly, she also offered to facilitate the process.
There's no guarantee the threat of identity theft is over for the woman, but at least at this phase of the process, Google seems to be doing the right thing to correct a mistake which wasn't Google's in the first place. We'll keep you posted.

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