I spent the better part of a year building FixMyRecord, a product that scans the internet for personal data exposure — mugshots, background check listings, data broker profiles, and court records that follow people for decades. The experience changed how I think about digital identity.
Here's the uncomfortable truth: your online reputation isn't what you post. It's what other people find when they search your name. And most people have no idea what's out there.
The Problem Nobody Talks About
There are over 4,000 data broker sites in the United States. Many of them scrape public records — arrest logs, court filings, property records — and republish them with zero context. A charge that was dismissed? Still shows up. A case from fifteen years ago? Indexed and ranking on page one.
For the 70 million Americans with some form of criminal record, this isn't an abstract problem. It's the reason a job application gets ghosted. It's the reason a landlord says no. It's a digital barrier that compounds over time.
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More writing at fillipkosorukov.net on behavioral psychology, software products, and reputation systems.
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