Do you want to have content removed from Google? If you live in the U.S., your options are far different than if you live in Europe. Being an informed consumer will help you avoid making costly mistakes. These are tips for becoming one.
Review the “Terms of Use” or “User Terms” of the website where the content appears. Many sites no longer approve the publishing of inappropriate and defamatory content. So if such content does not meet their requirements, you or your representatives can email a request for it to be removed. (Recently, we saw such content removed within minutes, though it can take longer.)
Become familiar with the U.S. Communications Decency Act, the primary U.S. law governing the Internet. It frees website owners for liability regarding what is posted on their sites. This law determines whether Google can or will honor your request to remove content.
Google’s Official Site for Removal Requests
Google provides consumers with this site to report content they believe warrants removal from the Internet: Removing Content From Google. On that site, Google states that whether or not content will be removed is “based on applicable laws.” By that, Google means the Communications Decency Act. If the content is protected by that law, Google will not remove the material.
The Lumen Database collects and analyzes legal complaints and requests for removal of online materials, helping Internet users to know their rights and understand the law. It is published by a collective of law schools, including Harvard. Lumen is an independent 3rd party research project studying cease and desist letters concerning online content. Its goals are to educate the public, to facilitate research about the different kinds of complaints and requests for removal–both legitimate and questionable–that are being sent to Internet publishers and service providers, and to provide as much transparency as possible about the “ecology” of such notices, in terms of who is sending them and why, and to what effect. If you send a request to Google to remove content online, they may share it with Lumen to contribute to the body of publicly available information on the topic.
(To learn how many dubious online reputation management providers gamed Google’s content removal request system, check out The Wall Street Journal’s expose, Google Hides News, Tricked by Fake Claims. The reporters analyzed Lumen’s records to uncover thousands of fake requests and reported them to Google, which removed over 50,000 links as a result.)
Know Your Options in the Event of Defamatory Content
In this New Normal, executives, leaders and entrepreneurs are all working remotely outside the office where professional dress codes are not required. But professional style and presentation still remain integral to achieving your business and personal goals. It can — and should — be used strategically to reinforce the reputation you want to establish, amplify, or reset.
How you dress and present yourself, even on Zoom, signals the strength of your value to your present and prospective audience, clients, and partners. This balancing act is more challenging now.
With this in mind, we consulted Aliya Thomas, a nationally-known executive image manager, and founder and director of the consulting firm, Elevated Style By Aliya.
Elevated Style specializes in creating high-impact wardrobes for thought leaders, high-level and rising entrepreneurs, and ambitious powerhouse professionals through a simplified and personal approach. In addition to virtually consulting personal clients, Aliya Thomas presents to many organizations and corporations via educational style workshops. Examples include Google, The Network of Women NYC, Philip Lim, Urby, Luminary, and Signature Leaders.
“As a professional powerhouse making bold moves, you not only need to play the part, you need to look the part,” she says “When you elevate your style, you elevate your life. This is true more than ever now that we are all online.”
Our interview:
On Zoom and other virtual meeting platforms, we see everything. What mistakes do you see many of us making?
A common mistake I see virtually is wearing colors that are dull and washed out. I encourage clients to work with their “signature power colors”. Power colors are different for each person, depending on personality and complexion. When I help clients identify their signature style, color is a big part of that. The use of color and color placement can speak volumes. The right color can be a powerful expression of personality and presence.
Also, virtual presence is not only about what you are wearing, but it’s also about your set- up. You could look great, but if your background is too distracting, if your lighting is dark and creating shadows, or if your computer is not at eye level, it all affects your professional virtual presence.
What should we be doing?
Just like anything else in life, creating a signature wardrobe starts with a plan. Create at least five options from the waist up, that you feel your best in. Don’t forget jewelry, color, and layering pieces to add contrast and interest. Rotate these options to create variety. However, simply creating these options and your wardrobe plan is not always easy for most. I help clients discover their signature style by helping you start with discovering “Your 3 Words.” These are the three words that best describe who you are, and what you want your image to “say” about you.
You are often called upon by major organizations, to brief their employees on using style to build and expand careers. What is your most common advice?
We have all heard it before. You have to dress the part to BE the part. The challenge is, even though a lot of my clients are extremely successful and great at what they do, when it comes to image and style, some lack confidence in their choices and are stuck with “the how”. When it comes to elevating your image in an authentic way with impact, outsourcing a qualified personal stylist can make a positive difference. Not only will you elevate your image confidence, but you’ll also do the same for your personal brand image. We have less than seven seconds to make a great first impression. Make them count.
What are your top tips for men and women who want to reboot their image to present themselves now more effectively?
When creating your signature professional look, you always want to stay true to yourself and be authentic. However, no matter your age, body type, or career level, both men and women should consider these top three tips when you are rebooting your wardrobe.
1. Focus on “The 3 F’s” … fit, fabric, and function.
Time and time again I see many wearing clothes that are simply too big or too small, especially men. Finding a go-to tailor is key for that polished look. Tailoring is not just for suits. A good tailor is one of the most valuable tools you can have in your arsenal. Invest in great quality fabrics that are natural and breathable. Not only will they be more comfortable: they will last longer and naturally look more put together. As far as function, think about how you spend the majority of your time. If you spend 75% of your time in professional clothing, 75% of your wardrobe should represent that.
2. Shoes matter.
When it comes to shoes, it’s all about quality over quantity. You only need a few pair of great shoes that are purposeful to various occasions. It’s important to rotate them to keep your shoes in good condition. Invest in quality materials and pay attention to comfort, or you won’t wear them. Always keep your shoes clean, unscuffed and modern. An outdated shoe can make or break a look.
3. Don’t forget the face!
With more business being conducted virtually, the face is even more important. This is more of an image tip as opposed to style. Gentlemen, find a modern haircut for your face shape. This is huge. This also goes for eyewear. The right glasses and haircut make a world of difference. Ladies, the same goes for you. Women also need to consider make up and jewelry. I always suggest playing up your eyes OR your lips, not both at the same time. And don’t be afraid of a little color on your lips. It brightens your face and brings attention to your words. The same goes with earrings and necklaces. Choose one or the other to highlight. Professionally, a delicate or statement necklace, with low-profile earrings work best. Wearing bold earrings virtually tend to be more distracting. Those work best for nights out or casual weekend looks.
But President Trump’s attack on the legal loophole that allows online hate speech – Communications Decency Act, Section 230 — caught our attention. In short, he wants to do away with it.
We often lament the presence of the CDA 230, as it is known. In my recent article on Medium, I explain why:
On the internet, any of us can be impersonated, harassed or the focus of “fake news.” It persists because of the Communications Decency Act Section 230, a law that protects the platforms that publish such information — publishers like Google, Facebook, Twitter and millions of blogs, forums, and websites — against liability for third-party content on their websites.
We have helped many clients who have been adversely affected by the type of harassment the CDA 230 permits. So, we have been following this story with much interest. Why would President Trump want to remove that law? One reason: Twitter has been moderating his tweets and flagging content it considers questionable.
The executive order that Mr. Trump signed on Thursday seeks to strip liability protection in certain cases for companies like Twitter, Google, and Facebook for the content on their sites, meaning they could face legal jeopardy if they allowed false and defamatory posts.
In another article, Times reporter Daisuke Wakabayashi explained how the CDA 230 works:
…Section 230 shields websites from liability for content created by their users. It permits internet companies to moderate their sites without being on the hook legally for everything they host.
Section 230 has allowed the modern internet to flourish. Sites can moderate content — set their own rules for what is and what is not allowed — without being liable for everything posted by visitors.
…Websites trading in revenge pornography, hate speech or personal information to harass people online receive the same immunity as sites like Wikipedia.
This topic will be in the news for weeks to come. Legal experts think it is unlikely that the CDA 230 can be substantially changed by President Trump’s action. Our hope, like others who support updating it, is that it can be done through appropriate legislative channels.
In Europe, privacy is considered a human right. Online harassment is considered a human rights abuse.
In the U.S., there are few laws protecting us against having our personal data published online, or even collected and sold by data publishers. On the internet, any of us can be impersonated, harassed or the focus of “fake news.”
The personal and professional damages caused by online harassment can be so disruptive that my online reputation management practice supports bringing a version of the “Right to be Forgotten” to America—even though the CDA 230, the law that prevents that, is effectively the source of much of our business. We also support the passage of laws that will better protect the online privacy of U.S. citizens and protect them from anonymous harassment and other forms of hate speech, while through our business we find practical ways to protect them now.
My new article on Medium addresses the reasons why it is time to bring the “Right to Be Forgotten” here.
Like you, we hear a lot about hacking of private and organizational emails, texts and other privacy breaches, as well as foreign actors eavesdropping on the phones of major U.S. corporations. Jeff Bezos is just one example of a V.I.P who was recently in the news after his personal texts became an international news story. Experian’s infamous 2015 breach, in which millions of customers’ private data became public, is another. Government and political leaks are a whole other category. When these confidential personal or corporate communications become public, we wonder why they were not sent out on private channels.
We turned to Joel Wallenstrom, CEO of Wickr, which provides end-to-end encrypted platforms for individual, corporate, government and enterprise users. We asked him to help educate our readers about their options—and why they are at more risk of a breach than they realize.
Even supposedly “secure” platforms are actually not. Snapchat was recently in the news because employees spied on clients’ private messages. Gmail is reportedly exposed to many third parties. How does Wickr address this problem?
Many people don’t realize that providers of collaboration tools like email, text, videoconferencing and file management services underwrite the cost of delivery by getting access to your data, selling it, and/or monetizing it. This is their profit source and the basis for the huge valuations for companies like Slack, Uber and Zoom. Third-party developers of such apps often can access your messaging, location, preferences, habits, and more. If you are conducting business on an app like WeChat, for instance, the Chinese government is able to read your messages. New popular collaboration tools like Slack are built to give the services provider access to all your communications. This creates a path to your sensitive files, communications and data.
Many executives don’t realize that enterprise security, risk and compliance professionals often prefer non-encrypted email platforms because it allows them to identify bad actors within a company and to track potentially suspicious behavior. This is called telemetry, which essentially means they are collecting everything so that they can see everything. But this gives those who utilize it a great deal of power. In the recent case of Snapchat, their security team abused this power, appropriately named “God Mode,” to access customer data. So, when you use mainstream systems, realize you and your team are not the only ones with complete access to them. Your security team, the service provider, and adversaries smart enough to ride their coattails also have access.
Wickr is different. We are the only service provider that has no ability to see clients’ messages, files, calls, videoconferences, and other data. If Wickr is ever breached, the data sent on our system is safe. We provide “clean pipes” for data and enable clients to completely wipe their phones and systems in accordance with their retention and deletion policies. Further, we provide the ability to store data in their secure archives for as long as clients need. Because we don’t have access to users’ data and therefore cannot sell or monetize it, our revenue comes from a fee to our corporate customers. We maintain a free service for individuals and small groups.
Why do so many prominent people in business and elsewhere continue to feel confident about sending the most intimate information via text?
Because it’s easy—and because 98% of people in business don’t understand encryption or how it works. The phone companies and big tech companies have distributed their technologies en masse, and encryption historically has not been a part of them. We’ve seen small changes with Apple embracing privacy as a way to differentiate their products and services. Slack and Zoom are new products that people love to use because they are easy—but they are not secure. Data privacy is becoming something that people will pay for, or at least influence their purchase decision. It’s now up to those of us in the privacy industry to make products that are easy to use like Slack and Zoom. It’s a big responsibility and one we take very seriously at Wickr.
Are there still major organizations that continue to use old platforms for internal and external emails? We hear there are plenty and that it is a cost-cutting decision.
The better question is whether there are major organizations not using old platforms. The biggest change I’ve seen has not been to the underlying technologies, but rather how those technologies are managed. Email retention policies are a good example. After the John Podesta incident, many Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) instituted email retention policies so that emails didn’t simply stick around forever. But even that commonsensical move proves to be difficult to implement in large organizations, and chief information security officers often feel burned. Therefore, when the C-Suite asks the security team to adopt really secure and really private enterprise collaboration products like Wickr Pro, the CISO delays, looking for the support of legal and compliance and IT. This delay simply pushes sensitive communications to consumer products on their own devices that are not managed by the enterprise. Products like WeChat, WhatsApp and Telegram are dangerous venues for sensitive corporate communications. We are left with a mix of executives sending sensitive business communications on their phones on personal apps managed by China or Facebook, and then sending insecure emails and documents when they need to use a work issued machine like a laptop. It’s the worst of both worlds.
What are the most common concerns you hear from CEOs and risk executives regarding adapting to secure communications?
There are three primary concerns: first, they worry that the technology will be too expensive; second, that it will not work at scale; and third, that encryption will somehow aggravate their regulators. The last point is very important as there are industries that require retention of certain communications for compliance purposes. There are strong and flexible end-to-end encryption products that conform to any data retention and data deletion policies. On the contrary, when employees use consumer apps to conduct business, they are unable to conform to any rules or regulations set forth by their organization. As I mentioned before, it’s up to the privacy industry to make things easy to use and manage. This is not an easy task, which is why you see most apps simply being sold in app stores and providing no service or integrations with enterprise software management tools. This is the challenge we took on with Wickr Pro. We want organizations to have a point of view on data protection and give them powerful tools to protect and control their data.
Wickr offers highly secure, out-of-band communication channels that deploy to provide the necessary capabilities in times of crisis. When were these developed and what type of crises are they used for?
Wickr was originally deployed for very select uses for journalists and NGOs working overseas. The technology was configured for users whose communications were so sensitive that interception was a matter of life and death. That product still exists, but we have been more focused on building Wickr Pro atop this platform to create more flexible and general-purpose products. We think that small groups and large organizations can benefit from the same level of protection needed by warfighters and NGOs. We’ve simply given people more control over how the product is used. For example, rather than require that all messages are destroyed after 7 days, an organization might configure WickrPro to mimic their email retention policy and have messages delete after 90 days. Further, Wickr Pro does not require anonymity, so large organizations can easily deploy at scale using single sign on (SSO). The strength of our cryptography remains— we’ve just made it easy to use.
Wickr’s ephemeral messaging feature allows administrators and users to set self-destruction timers for messages as short as a few seconds. What types of professional situations are those most used for?
The feature set goes far beyond setting a self-destruct timer for an individual message. Teams can be set up in a security group that has its own settings. The executive team, for example, can be its own group so that they can send messages to Wickr users outside their company, such as to their law firm or a business partner. Another group can be set up for interns where nothing is stored for more than a week and they can only communicate internally. I’ve seen executives set self-destruction timers, which we call “Burn on Read” in WickrPro, for messages as short as a few hours when they are sending pictures of whiteboard notes from a Board of Directors (BOD) meeting. That way, the pictures do not remain on their devices after the notes have been documented by their executive assistants. I’ve also observed campaign staffers use settings as short as seconds in a group message during a candidate speech given in the 2018 elections. In those same elections, polling data and opposition research reports would be transmitted in secure Wickr Pro rooms that ensured the data was deleted from end user devices after a week when the next round of data was distributed. With flexible controls, different use cases can be enforced and even orchestrated. There is nothing exactly the same across all WickrPro customer deployments, except that Wickr cannot touch their data.
*
Joel Wallenstrom has led top white hat hacker teams responding to some of the most high-profile incidents in the past 20 years. Under his leadership, Wickr has pivoted the company from solely offering a free consumer product to a robust enterprise compliance ready, secure collaboration platform used by the Fortune 500 and top federal organizations. Prior to joining Wickr, Joel co-founded iSEC Partners, one of the world’s leading information security research teams, later acquired by the NCC Group. Joel also served as the Director for Strategic Alliances @stake, one of the very first computer security companies, which was acquired by L0pht Heavy Industries and was itself later purchased by Symantec.
*
This is part of our continuing series of interviews with experts whose work relates to online reputation management.
Have you ever tried to Google yourself and a photo of someone else with your name shows up? It may not seem like a big deal, but when a recent client told me her story, I thought it was worth sharing.
She is a lawyer and she doesn’t have a photo of herself on her social media profiles or her website. The “hard goods,” the degrees and accomplishments, are listed but the “soft goods” — the photo — were missing. She didn’t think it was a big deal until she received a panicked phone call from a client saying, “I Googled you and I didn’t see your photo. I could only find some other woman who doesn’t look professional and I am afraid opposing counsel will look you up and find the other person’s photo and they won’t take our case seriously.”
3 Reasons Why You Need to Google Yourself Today
To prevent misidentification. Make sure the photo of the ‘real’ you shows up on Google Search. If it doesn’t, be sure to add photos to your profiles.
To observe your brand. See what comes up when you search for your name or your company. Verify that your website and profiles populate the first page of a Google search.
To protect your reputation from negativity. If there is negative content about someone with your same name you may not be able to remove the content. But you can raise your online profile by adding more content and pushing the other material down the page.
What do you find when you Google yourself?
Did you find that your website and social media profiles show up on the first page? Are all the articles and content related to the “real you”? And is it the “real you” that is showing up or someone else with your same name?
What to do if your photo doesn’t appear when you Google Yourself?
Go ahead and try it now. If your photo doesn’t show up, visit Google for help on how to correct it.
Alyssa Peek specializes in professional portraits and branding of women over 40. She is an expert speaker and coach regarding how women can project confidence and presence in all situations. This article originally appeared on her blog.
Despite frequent outcries about data breaches affecting millions of Internet users, U.S. citizens continue to have the lowest level of privacy protection in the world. Not surprisingly, the U.S. law governing online content is also outdated.
A 2011 ruling in a New York City court of appeals that would still stand today illustrates why the law needs to be updated to reflect current Internet use.
The court dismissed a businessman for filing a suit against a competitor for consistently posting “false and defamatory statements of fact” online that were clearly intended to injure the claimant’s reputation.
The judge noted that the comments about the claimant were “unquestionably offensive and obnoxious,” but held that the defendants were protected under the Communications Decency Act, which shields Web site operators from liability when they publish and edit material that they did not create.
In plain English: nothing could stop the poster from continuing to publish libel that, were it in print, would probably make him the subject of a successful lawsuit.
We Support the Right to Be Forgotten
Situations like the one above influence reputations in a way that is unfair (and in our view, should not be legal). That is why establishing and maintaining a strong online reputation is an asset for individuals and businesses alike. It is also why an update of internet laws is far overdue.
We support the Right to Be Forgotten on Google. Increasing numbers of other concerned Americans are raising their voices to demand that option come to America, too. Why Americans Need And Deserve The Right To Be Forgotten, by security expert and Inc. columnist Joseph Steinberg, presents a compelling reason why it should. With Dan Shefet’s help, it will.
Dan Shefet is a Paris-based attorney who forced Google to remove links to defamatory information about him in 2014. The case made worldwide headlines and led to the Right to be Forgotten law in Europe, which allows citizens to request Google remove links to certain types of personal information about them online. He has since established the Association for Accountability and Internet Democracy (AAID) Its goal is to to make search engines legally responsible for the information they publish. Dan’s goal is to establish a chapter of AAID in the U.S. You can learn more about his views in our interview with him: Dan Shefet: Creator of the Internet’s Ombudsman.
As the tech industry soars with start-ups and expansions, companies are continually seeking new talent: leaders who can innovate, emerging digital talent, senior management stars, board directors, and more.
Martha Josephson helps Silicon Valley’s leading large companies and most promising start-ups to find this new talent. She leads Egon Zehnder’s global Digital Media Practice, a pioneering specialty she launched in 1996 to serve the technology and communications niche. We interviewed her on the state of executive search in Silicon Valley, and what role reputation plays in it.
How does reputation — or industry-wide perception — play in sourcing tech leaders for top roles?
For both board and senior leadership roles, the story behind the company is crucial. It might be an early-stage company with great momentum, or an established company with an iconic brand. Regardless, the narrative is an important lure. This said, many companies at various crossroads strategically and operationally are also attractive. Conveying these situations in factual terms and highlighting the opportunities for improvement can make many eyes light up on the talent side.
Can you provide examples of companies that, in your view, are best-practice examples of how to communicate such narratives?
I think 23andMe has done a great job of this. They had a regulatory setback a few years ago that constrained them. Throughout the process of dealing with that, the CEO and leadership team were candid, humble, and determined in their public communications. When they successfully came out the other end of that challenge, people were literally cheering them on. I am also loving the story that Viacom tells talent these days. For a long time the company was distracted by boardroom and shareholder dramas. It didn’t really get to innovate in digital the way peer companies did. Today, a fresh management team tells a passionate story about investing and innovation around their iconic brands. They hint that maybe it isn’t so bad to be “late” to innovation since they have now learned from everyone else’s mistakes.
What role do Google search results play in your searches?
I use Google constantly to research companies, topics, and people, but rarely do I use it to find actual individual talent. There are other tools for that, as well as my trusted sources in a given sector, which I have found (still) the most effective assistance of all.
By that, you mean word-of-mouth recommendations and referrals? Do you find those more valuable than digital sources like LinkedIn?
Nothing can replace LinkedIn. It is indispensable in my work. However, what I need as well are insights and, frankly, judgements about people. These I get from direct conversations with knowledgeable people who are in a position to give me unbiased input. I will say that polishing one’s LinkedIn profile is a really good idea. If the profile is too skimpy, I am not going to be sure whether to bring an opportunity to that person or even whether to dig deeper with references.
What is your advice for women and people of color to advance faster in the tech industry?
There is no substitute for cultivating both mentors and champions. They are two different resources. Mentors take you under their wing and give you the wisdom to do your current job well and move up. Champions are the people who will always suggest and promote you for opportunities because they know you and believe in you.
Many tech CEOs in disruptive industries are facing (or recovering from) crises resulting from their personal behavior. How can they rebound from them?
I can say that awareness of these issues is now off the charts in recent history. Some people can rebound and some can’t. In our work in developing executives for future leadership roles in their companies (which, in addition to search, we also do a lot), we consistently try to help build self-awareness and a conscious, deliberate leadership style. We don’t stint with even the most uncomfortable feedback. This helps. In my personal work, I have noticed that CEOs with sisters and/or daughters don’t tend to have these issues.
In closing, any tips for CEOs and their boards who may be facing crises based on their behavior or company cultures?
Have your support team ready. These could be mentors, advisors, trusted professional friends, communications specialists, etc. When a crisis breaks, it is a very lonely time and people in that situation need to talk and plan with bullet-proof resources who have perspective. For boards, crises can be no less emotional and my advice is the same.
Martha has been a partner at Egon Zehnder for 16 years, and is industry recognized as a trusted advisor to many of the world’s most admired organizations. She is one of the most sought -after and reputed talent consultants in Silicon Valley, and from her base in Palo Alto operates locally and globally to secure, retain and develop exceptional C-level and board talent for the world’s leading e-based and media-centric organizations. She leads the firm’s significant relationship with Google, handling more than 300 executive searches as their primary partner over the course of the last ten plus years.
Martha earned an AB from Princeton University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude, and an MBA from Columbia Graduate School of Business.
This is the twentieth in a series of interviews with experts whose work relates to online reputation management.
