Kathy in Miami wants to know how to remove her private information from the Internet. She’s worried about identity theft. Plus, she doesn’t want nosey people reading up on her.

Kathy, I understand your concerns. The Internet puts your information out in the open for anyone to see. You should be able to control what people can find out about you.

First, do a Google search to see what’s out there. In fact, do several. Use variations of your name, and include your city and state in some. If your name is common, there are probably too many results to search.

But, if your name is more unique, you’ll probably find some results. Contact the individual sites to have your information removed. Hopefully, they’ll comply. On TAFFY!, I have more tips for removing your name from Google.

Of course, that’s only part of the problem. Entries in online databases might not show up in your search. But you can bet that your information is there.