Hey there!

This week I wanted to take the time to share a story from last week when we were talking about our digital footprints! I took the opportunity to Google myself (I never like the way that sounds) to see what came up. First up was my LinkedIn profile, which is funny because I absolutely never use that social media site anymore. I still have myself listed on there as a Lab Technician from my previous career, so I guess it is time to change that.

I got a bit of a shock when I kept scrolling and further down and saw my name attached to another page from a previous employer. The page was an info page for The Bud Bash, an adult cannabis themed night that the employer was putting on in April of 2023. I was working for this employer at the time, and because I have a passion for gardening, both indoor and outdoor, I volunteered to bring my grow tent and set it up at the event so people could learn about indoor growing.

I didn’t, however, agree to having my full name advertised as a local cannabis growing expert, which is exactly what they did. I noticed the plan to put my name out like that before the event happened, and immediately asked my employer to take that info down as I did not consent to making my name public, or being billed as a cannabis expert. I was assure they would take out my information from the event page and I took them at their word…

Which was dumb of me I guess because that info never got taken down and had been still available under a search result for my name for over a year now!

Anyways, right after class I was emailing old bosses to get them to take the page down. The event page is gone but my name still comes up in Google searches and it is linked to that dead event page. I’m still talking to that employer about getting that taken down too, but we will see what happens!

Moral of the story? I guess make sure you are explicit about what you do and do not want your name attached to!