I’m currently a beta tester for ClaimID, a new project from some of the brilliant minds that revolve around ibiblio.org. The “about” page for the project describes it like this:
Imagine that you are applying for a job. You know that your prospective employer is going to search for your name online, and since you’re a rational person, that worries you. How will your employer know what online stuff is actually about you, and not about that other person who shares your name? And what if the good stuff about you online doesn’t mention your full name, or uses a name you no longer go by (such as a maiden name)? How would your prospective employer ever find it? Why do you have to lose out in the eyes of that employer? And the worst part is there’s no way for you to easily influence what search engines say about you.
Enter claimID. ClaimID is a service that lets you claim the information that is about you online. That information is then associated with your name, providing folks an easy way to see what is and isn’t about you online. In doing so, you get to influence the search engines, and provide people more relevant information when they search for you. It’s time to reclaim some power back from the search engines. ClaimID is about letting you have some say in what search engines say about you.
So it’s a method of tracking the various places online where things about me are. Which to me, is a useful thing, but I’ll be interested to see if this is something that the public at large even thinks about, much less will work to track. As well, I’m interested to see how they plan to “influence the search engines.”
If anyone else wants to see/play with this, my beta code is good for 5 more activations. Leave a comment, and I’ll hook you up.