Reclaim your data: what do sites know about you?

Ego surfing is great fun and, sometimes, an absolute eye-opener. Just try typing your name into Google and see what comes up. The fun soon ends when you realise how much personal information about yourself there is on the web, and how little control you have over it. Equally alarming is the degree of personal data companies have squirrelled away in their private server vaults. Search logs, a record of your precise whereabouts, details of your shopping habits, your credit history... all cross-referenced against your personal profile.