ReputationDefender
Press Room

ATLANTA and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Jan. 24, 2013  — Equifax, a global leader in consumer and commercial data and workforce information solutions, and ReputationDefender, a world leader in consumer data protection, announced today that Equifax will include ReputationDefender's online personal data monitoring and removal technology within its subscription-based credit monitoring and identity theft protection products for consumers.  

This new partnership will enhance Equifax Personal Solutions' leading suite of credit monitoring and identity theft protection products by allowing Equifax customers to monitor and remove sensitive personal information from online people search directory sites that sell it or give it away.  In combination with Equifax's existing credit monitoring and identity theft protection capabilities, this partnership creates one of the most powerful credit and personal online protection tools available today.

Equifax ID Patrol™ and Equifax Complete™ Advantage subscribers will receive monitoring of personally identifiable information – like addresses, phone numbers, date of birth, email addresses and more – when found online.  Additionally, for Equifax Complete™ Premier and Family Plan members, ReputationDefender can remove this sensitive information from the web at the customers' request.

"Equifax is committed to empowering consumers with information and tools to be their financial best," said Trey Loughran, president of Equifax Personal Solutions. "By incorporating ReputationDefender's privacy monitoring capabilities, we are enabling consumers to better monitor and manage a broader scope of their online personal information as a natural extension of our product set. We are excited to partner with ReputationDefender, a leader in digital privacy and reputation, in providing this powerful combination of capabilities to our customers."

"So much about each of us is revealed online – and these digital breadcrumbs add up to vulnerability for consumers," said Michael Fertik, founder and CEO of ReputationDefender.  "Your online identity is worth protecting and we're proud to partner with Equifax, a recognized leader in consumer empowerment, to identify and safeguard individuals' sensitive information." 

"This is the first-ever merging of credit monitoring, identity theft protection and the protection of personal digital credibility.  Together, Equifax and ReputationDefender now help consumers to protect themselves from a comprehensive set of financial exposures, both online and offline," he said.

To learn more about the Equifax Complete suite of products now available with privacy monitoring capabilities from ReputationDefender, visit www.equifax.com.  

About Equifax

Equifax Personal Solutions empowers consumers with the confidence and control to be their financial best. Find out more about Equifax's innovative suite of credit monitoring and identity protection products at www.equifax.com. Get smart information on everything from credit to retirement, all in one place at the Equifax Finance Blog, blog.equifax.com.

Equifax is a global leader in consumer, commercial and workforce information solutions, providing businesses of all sizes and consumers with information they can trust. We organize and assimilate data on more than 500 million consumers and 81 million businesses worldwide, and use advanced analytics and proprietary technology to create and deliver customized insights that enrich both the performance of businesses and the lives of consumers.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Equifax operates or has investments in 18 countries and is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500® Index. Its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. For more information, please visit www.equifax.com.

About ReputationDefender

ReputationDefender was founded in 2006 to give individuals and businesses the power to control their digital privacy and reputation.  The company continues to pioneer patented solutions that safeguard and remove personal data from the Internet, monitor and respond to online reviews, build a positive and accurate Web presence, and help businesses proactively engage customers.  ReputationDefender is a World Economic Forum Global Growth Company and multiple award winner, including the recent Silver for the Best in Biz Awards for "Most Customer Friendly Company" in 2012.

Reputation is everything: a valuable mantra, but one that's due for a 21st century update.

These days, 'online reputation is everything'.

Just ask Starbucks, or Amazon – global businesses facing a backlash over their corporate tax payments in Britain.

Or HMV, the nearly century-old high street retailer whose own staff recently used the firm's Twitter account to reveal the carnage behind its administration.

According to Michael Fertik, founder of ReputationDefender, we now rely on web reviews, or internet searches to make decisions about what we buy and where we go much more than we do on word of mouth recommendations.

"Reputation of your employees, of your products, of your company brand, and of your executives all go to your bottom line," Mr Fertik told me when we met to discuss digital life.

A positive online presence can make the difference between a profitable business and or a struggling venture, he insists. His top tips for success can be found here.

But it's not just businesses that need to manage their virtual reputations.

I gave his team of agents just a few personal details, including my full legal name, date of birth and three email addresses, and asked them to dig up as much dirt as they could.

Except for some photographic evidence of ill-advised haircuts back in university, I came up fairly clean. Though I have consciously kept my digital life fairly professional – I'm lousy at Facebook.

But most people aren't as careful as they should be, Mr Fertik says. That means they may be sharing more than they mean to with colleagues, potential employers, or even university admissions officers.

Mr Fertik says 90% of employers will look you up online before a hiring decision, and 70% of those will make their decision based on what they see.

Job hunters be warned: the first 10 results on Google are now your CV, whether you like it or not.

So, can you erase the bad stuff?

Well, Poppy Trowbridge Haircut 1999 is all the proof I need to safely assert: the internet is not as ephemeral as we'd like to think.

REDWOOD CITY, CA., November 14, 2012 – ReputationDefender has been named a silver winner for Most Customer Friendly Company of the Year in Best of Biz Awards 2012.

“ReputationDefender is part of an emerging crop of Silicon Valley companies that views customer service as a time-honored value,” said Michael Fertik, founder and CEO of ReputationDefender.  “Customer experience is part of the core of our product design – and it’s how we’ve created technologies that enable busy individuals and companies to quickly and effectively manage their online reputations.”

“This Best in Biz Award highlights the incredible responsiveness of our Member Services team and we’re very appreciative,” said Fertik.

Winners of Best in Biz Awards 2012 were determined by an independent panel of 32 judges from top-tier news, business and technology publications, as well as broadcast outlets and analyst firms, such as ABC, Businessweek,Computerworld, ECT News Network, Entrepreneur, eWeek, Examiner, Financial Times, Forbes, FOX News, Hartford Business Journal, IDG Ventures, IEEE Institute, Inc., Insight Media, King Features Syndicate, Lab Reviews, Network World, The News and Observer, PC Magazine, ReadWriteWeb, South Florida Business Journal, Tech-Gaming, Techtalk,Upstart Business Journal, USA Today and ZDNet.

ReputationDefender was founded in 2006 on the belief that reputation is the new currency of today’s digital economy – and everyone has the right to control and protect their online reputations and privacy.  The company pioneers solutions for privacy control and digital identity management; its ReputationDefender for Business product gives small businesses and large enterprises the ability to monitor reviews and analyze sentiment, get real-time alerts, understand trends and proactively manage their reputations online.

###

Media contact: Leslie Hobbs, leslie.hobbs@reputation.com, (650) 381-2996

 Twitter: @Reputation_Com

THE founder of Silicon Valley tech firm ReputationDefender says he made an “entrepreneurial” decision to choose Liverpool ahead of London as his UK base.

Michael Fertik’s company this week revealed it was opening a European headquarters in Liverpool after buying city firm Reputation 24/7.

Mr Fertik believes many US tech firms wanting to move to the UK are too quick to look at London rather than looking further afield.

And he said he expected Liverpool would be a great base for his business thanks to its knowledgeable workforce, strong universities and affordable office space.

He said: “We just found it makes more sense to move here and be entrepreneurial.

“It’s not entrepreneurship just to look at London. It’s bias, not what makes economic sense.

“We’re hiring. We’re hoping to be growing the workforce. We’re interested in retaining and growing the team.

“I’m going to be investing in Liverpool. It’s not the obvious choice.

“The obvious place would be East London, where they do the best flat white in Britain. But it doesn’t make economic sense for us.”

ReputationDefender, which was founded in 2006, specialises in helping people and companies to protect their privacy online.

Its technology can help people carry out tasks from removing potentially sensitive information to optimising their search results.

Reputation 24/7 was founded by Nathan Barker in Liverpool to help small firms manage their online reputation. Mr Barker will stay on with ReputationDefender.

Mr Fertik would not disclose the value of the deal but said he planned to invest millions of pounds in the UK market.

He added: “Liverpool has had substantial public and private sector investment.

“It’s got a very good university. That creates an attractive environment for other ‘young’ university graduates, and that’s certainly right for us.

“It’s got an international population. It’s got a good history in commerce. It’s also got a reasonable wages environment. A place like London is much more dear.

“That’s also true for infrastructure – office space here is far better for a company like ours making a move into the market.

“Another thing about Liverpool is that Liverpudlians want to stay in Liverpool. That gives it a stable workforce. That’s terrific for a business like ours.”

“A lot of tech people in the UK are, I think, making a mistake focusing exclusively on London as the place to be. There are masses of other parts to the UK.”

Mr Fertik said ReputationDefender had already won some UK customers, but need to open a UK base to grow that customer base further.

He said: “We now want to be more proactive and more deliberate about growing internationally.”

The company’s sales targets range from individuals to FTSE-100 companies. It will have salespeople in London but its back office and head office will be based in Liverpool.

Mr Fertik said: “We intend to dominate this market as we have in the US. And we are going to do it with British people.”

The company also considered investing in Germany, but Mr Fertik says he chose to look for targets in the UK as he was “bullish” about the market’s long-term prospects.

He said: “I know there’s been a lot written about the last quarter and the triple dip. But when I make investments like this, I am looking to a five or 10-year return.

“While we will make revenues this year, you cannot make decisions based on 10 or 24 months.”

The UK’s workforce and tax policies for businesses, Mr Fertik added, made it an attractive place to invest.

He said: “It’s got a good future for its tech companies because it has a knowledgeable workforce.

“It’s got great universities, like the University of Liverpool.”

Original article: http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/business-local/2013/01/31/reputation-com-founder-liverpool-is-the-right-place-for-a-tech-business-99623-32703191/#ixzz2R8wvDTB9

ReputationDefender plans to invest millions of dollars this year in the U.K., following its acquisition this week of Liverpool-based Reputation 24/7.

This represents the first international acquisition for the Redwood City-based reputation management provider.

“We picked the U.K. because it’s a great launch pad into the rest of Europe,” ReputationDefender spokeswomen Leslie Hobbs said today.

“Europe, and especially the U.K., is very ripe for growth. The population here is very aware of digital privacy.”

Reputation 24/7 employs about 10 people, and the company is being rebranded as ReputationDefender (U.K.). Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The company chose Liverpool as a European home base for its diverse and technical work force, drawing from the University of Liverpool.

ReputationDefender, led by CEO Michael Fertik, employs 150 people and has raised $67 million in five rounds of funding.

The company offers a suite of online reputation management products to more than 1 million customers in 100 countries.

Original article: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2013/01/30/reputationcom-plans-major-uk.html?s=print

Read this CNBC piece here.

The flood of online data about each of us seems to be increasing exponentially. For the most part we’re willing participants, lured by the promise of convenience and information. But how much control will we have over the data that we give up? Michael Fertik, CEO of ReputationDefender, which is in the business of giving consumers control over their personal data, wrote to us from the World Economic Forum meeting this week in Davos, where the topic has gotten a hearing. (Fertik also wrote the Forum column in our February 2013 issue, A Tale of Two Internets.) Here’s his letter:

A year ago, multinational corporations had begun to entertain some radical (for them) concepts with regards to big data. For instance, executives seemed to consider the notion that consumer data they collected – from telecommunications data to healthcare records to their commercial and financial transactions to the digital footprints that customers leave as they use the Internet – need not be regulated and regimented, with benefits that tilted largely to business, but that the possibility of some kind of pro-consumer paradigm shift should be allowed.

Reading between the lines of conversations I’ve been having so far at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos about data governance, usage and privacy, people seem to be sharing a common vision.

On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be much common ground. On the one hand, users want control over their data – when it’s shared, how it’s shared, for how long it’s shared—and they are concerned about privacy, even as they rush to use social media platforms (see this Pew study).  Companies, on the other hand, want to further mine the intel they gather – from Internet browsing habits, shopping patterns, demographic data – to sell goods and services, make money, expand their businesses faster and more effectively.

For the first time at Davos this year, the key session on Unlocking the Value of Personal Data was moved from an “offsite” hotel meeting to a front-and-center leading working session inside the Congress Center.  

In the Davos world, that move signals an arrival of the topic as a kind of “primetime” event at the World Economic Forum.  In the words of one of the key discussion leaders, last year’s meeting on this topic was one of the best and most important sessions he’s ever attended in years of involvement at the WEF.  As another discussion leader said this week, nearly every session that is happening at Davos this year in some implicates questions of personal data, big data, and privacy.  It’s been coming up hourly.  

And at this key session on Unlocking the Value of Personal Data, all of the heavyweights were in the room and leaning in for a robust discussion: Global 2000 technology, health, and financial companies; key regulators; and the principal Internet thought leaders from around the world.

And for the first time ever, the discussion was largely unanimous in its embrace of the proposition that users CAN and SHOULD have some measurable control over either collection or use of their data.

We just saw the world move.  Huge companies – and in particular, the large number of massive global companies that are not hide-bound by their attachment to traditional Internet advertising business lines – see clearly the vast revenue opportunities in the data stores they have been accumulating for decades about people, places, and things.  And now – for reasons of both regulation and principle – they are highly motivated to start monetizing those data sets in ways that are clearly user-centric and pro-user.

There’s a tremendous amount of valuable data that companies can’t presently access or deploy for corporate or user gain – untapped gold, a resource of tremendous revenue generation.  With the right model—a ‘good guy’ paradigm that is user-centric—progressive companies could open the door to a huge new source of wealth creation.  With a Field of Dreams-like focus on incentives (“if you offer them, they will come”), consumers will embrace the shift to owning and benefiting from their data.

The point is not to forestall innovation or accidentally prevent serendipitous discovery arising from the connection of multiple and apparently disjointed data sets.  The goal is instead to enable the connection of those data sets with knowing and actually informed participation by users.

That’s why I’m a passionate advocate for the concept of the data vault – because it perfectly benefits companies and individuals alike.  Customers entrust their data to the vault system and decide what companies or types of businesses they trust.  Those companies then provide incentives, which a person could choose to take or not, in exchange for their data.  The value of the incentive – whether it’s a coupon, a free item, or even cash – would vary according to how valuable a company thought that data might be.  Imagine how much richer data would be if a person discloses it voluntarily – what better decisions, better products, even entirely new innovations could result with that information.  It’s a game-changer – and that’s exciting.

Right now, the most mature Internet companies are those that are focused on traditional ways of advertising – like Facebook or Google.  But sooner or later, the gold rush will be on as the pendulum swings back toward the consumer.

Original article: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2013/01/25/how-much-control-will-we-have-over-our-personal-data/?print=true

"Conventional wisdom says that startups need to embed themselves with American customers, sometimes for a stretch of years, before branching out to Europe and then Asia.



Like most conventional wisdom, it's nonsense (or bollocks, absurdité, 廢話 — take your pick).

It's seductive to listen to, especially if you're at all concerned about becoming profitable (a major preoccupation for nearly every entrepreneur, unsurprisingly).

Traditionally, you'd start with the U.S. market and stay there, often for several years, because it's worth twice as much as the European market and three times that of going to Asia.

 That was true once, but it's not anymore. The whole world is fast becoming one market — and money is a universal language uniting all, whether you're selling in China, marketing to the French or closing a deal in New York City. It may be a happy accident, but it's just as easy to generate revenue internationally as it is to do with your home base clientele.



That's why I think it's critical for companies — including and especially young businesses — to go international earlier, rather than waiting five, seven or 10 years. That was a decision we made for our company, ReputationDefender, and it was the right move. It opened some good revenue streams for us and, almost more importantly, helped surface rich cultural intel about our products and what offerings would appeal the most in which markets. As a result, we were able to intelligently redirect resources to capitalize on the countries with the most initial promise for us.



A recent conversation with Dave Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, reinforced the benefits of international expansion.

"If you have a product business and you aren't focused on international, you are missing out on two-thirds of your potential customers," Goldberg told me. 



SurveyMonkey was international from its inception, Goldberg said, in that customers overseas could purchase its services. But these customers could only see an English-language website and buy in U.S. dollars and most didn't really want to do business that way. "We were not optimized for international customers," he said. 



All of that changed two years ago, when SurveyMonkey localized its site. Goldberg said the transition was fascinating to watch: "Our customer support was only in English, but the next day, those same customers were contacting us in their native language." Today, customers can select from 15 different languages and 29 individual currencies. 



There are several lessons here, especially for startups, which would benefit hugely from rapid advances in market share, profit and capability:



Get international. When you focus only on customers in your backyard, you're effectively slamming the door in the faces of international consumers who might be very interested in what you're offering. There are few legitimate arguments for keeping your customer base to one-third its potential size. How can you really say no to expanding by 67 percent? After SurveyMonkey really committed to its international strategy, Goldberg says organic growth accelerated dramatically.



Speak their language. Sales and profits generally increase when companies pursue smart localization. Why? It's the same reason the late Tim Russert secured an incredibly hard-to-get interview with Pope John Paul II. He followed advice from his beloved father, known as Big Russ, to literally speak the pope's language. Russert's earnest letter, written in the pope's native Polish, made the critical difference. The point? Using the right language conveys respect for others — you're meeting them on their terms. It's also proof of a thoughtful commitment to convenience, making it easy for consumers to engage with you.



Don't be unreasonably constrained by cost concerns. Goldberg says the costs to launch a new language for SurveyMonkey are very reasonable, with the tab for annual maintenance even less. They work with a small company that handles the change management associated with multiple languages, and just one full-time employee is responsible for the workflow of these language sites and associated teams. The lesson is clear: Don't just assume international growth will be too expensive. Really do the research and think creatively to see if and how it can be done.



Consider an acquisition. Inorganic growth still very much "counts" as growth and purchasing another company is often an excellent part of a global expansion strategy. Even a small acquisition can open the door to rich opportunities in a new market, expansion of native capabilities, use of patented technologies, etc. Over time, these can contribute mightily to the bottom line.

As I helped ring the "remote" NYSE Opening Bell here in Davos this week, and throughout the meetings here, the markets have clearly been a key topic. For entrepreneurs, the U.S. markets are always fodder for discussion and enthusiasm — but what's interesting is the clear emergence of international markets as attractive contenders for startups.

And at Davos, the vibrant discussions and global ideas are a great reminder that shedding inward myopia expands the potential for real and significant success.



Perhaps companies should put a fresh spin on the famous exhortation: "Go West, young man, and grow up with the country." While lacking that historic ring, "Go international, young startup, and grow the company," is absolutely the right advice for young businesses.



Put another way: get aggressive, get purposeful and get global.

Original article: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2013/01/go_international_young_startup.html

What's happening in tech for 2013?  ReputationDefender CEO and Founder Michael Fertik offers his predictions via CNBC Squawkbox.  Click here to watch.

Imagine an Internet where unseen hands curate your entire experience. Where third parties predetermine the news, products and prices you see—even the people you meet. A world where you think you are making choices, but in reality, your options are narrowed and refined until you are left with merely the illusion of control.

This is not far from what is happening today. Thanks to technology that enables Google, Facebook and others to gather information about us and use it to tailor the user experience to our own personal tastes, habits and income, the Internet has become a different place for the rich and for the poor. Most of us have become unwitting actors in an unfolding drama about the tale of two Internets. There is yours and mine, theirs and ours.

Here's how it works. Advertising currently drives the vast majority of the Internet industry by volume of revenue. Silicon Valley is excellent at founding and funding companies that give you free apps and then collect and sell your data when you use them. For most of the Internet's short history, the primary goal of this data collection was classic product marketing: for example, advertisers might want to show me Nikes and my wife Manolo Blahniks. But increasingly, data collection is leapfrogging well beyond strict advertising and enabling insurance, medical and other companies to benefit from analyzing your personal, highly detailed “Big Data” record without your knowledge. Based on this analysis, these companies then make decisions about you—including whether you are even worth marketing to at all.

As a result, 99 percent of us live on the wrong side of a one-way mirror, in which the other 1 percent manipulates our experiences. Some laud this trend as “personalization”—which sounds innocuous and fun, evoking the notion that the ads we see might appear in our favorite color schemes. What we are talking about, however, is much deeper and significantly more consequential.

For example, federal regulations make it illegal to discriminate in pricing access to credit based on certain personal attributes. But, as Natasha Singer recently reported in the New York Times, technical advances in mining online and offline data have made it possible to skirt the spirit of the law: companies can simply not make any offers to less credit-attractive populations. If you live on the wrong side of the digital tracks, you won't even see a credit offer from leading lending institutions, and you won't realize that loans are available to help you with your current personal or professional priorities.

For the past decade, e-commerce sites have altered prices based on your Web habits and personal attributes. What is your geography and your past buying history? How did you arrive at the e-commerce site? What time of day are you visiting? An entire literature has emerged on the ethics, legality and economic promise of pricing optimization. And the field is advancing quickly: last September, Google received a patent on technology that lets a company dynamically price electronic content. For instance, it can push the base price of an e-book up if it determines you are more likely to buy that particular item than an average user; conversely, it can adjust the price down as an incentive if you are judged less likely to purchase. And you won't even know you are paying more than others for the exact same item.

These blind walls also appear in our digital political lives. As Eli Pariser has observed, the Internet shows us “what it thinks we want to see” by serving up content that matches the hidden profiles created about us based on our daily online interactions. This behind-the-scenes curation reinforces our political points of view through online “echo chambers” that affirm, instead of challenge, what we already believe to be true. As Harvard University scholar Cass Sunstein has written, liberals and conservatives who deliberate questions openly only with people of the same political stripe become more confident and extreme in their views.

Segregation and separation are on the rise. The fun of personalization has a dark side.

Original article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=rich-see-different-internet-than-the-poor&print=true