How your personal information may be too easy to find on the Internet

PHOENIX - We know to shred our documents and keep our social security numbers closely guarded, but what about all that information we put on the Internet on a regular basis?

"I had everything on her," Michele Stuart said, a private investigator with JAG Investigations.

She's talking about a woman I asked her to look into; because she's a dangerous criminal? Because she is wanted? No, because Gia Thompson is just like you and me.

"I'm married for a little over a year. I have a six month old, just an average life," said Thompson.

You now know more about Thompson than our P.I. did when she started her investigation.

Just for fun we asked someone else to look into Thompson.

"I'm a junior, 11th grade," said Harrison Liddiard.

Harrison also did a little snooping into her life. Neither our P.I. or Harrison paid any money to get the information they found.

The tool they used: the Internet.

"I have no idea about her at all," said Harrison.

But it wouldn't be long before he learned a whole lot.

The only information they were given was Thompson's name, her maiden name and her e-mail address.

We showed a clip of an interview with Harrison describing what he learned about her after just 20 minutes.

"We have a house phone number, we have the address for her house, we know about people in the family," said Harrison.

He now knows the names of Thompson's husband and son and has photos of them. He learns how much they paid for their home, how long they have lived there, and more.

Thompson is shaken and surprised that someone so young could learn so much, so quickly.

"I know how to use the Internet and that's really all it takes," said Harrison.

If that's what a teen can do, let's see what our P.I. can find.

"She was really easy," Stuart said.

Again, we shared with Thompson an interview we did with Michele Stuart describing everything she found.

"Within probably five minutes I knew exactly who she was married to, I knew where she lived, how much she paid for her house, where her mortgage is, who she paid her mortgage to, I knew she had a child, where she worked, I knew where she went to school, I knew family relations and that was on one site," said Stuart.

There are certain pieces of information we know we need to protect, our social security number being one, but there is another piece of personal information we are handing out to just about everybody.

"The e-mail address is the social security number of the Internet," said Stuart.

Stuart says using the information she found through social networking sites, like her mother's maiden name and pet names, she could easily bust security questions.

She says she could also hack accounts, impersonate Thompson or even apply for a credit card.

"And I'm the good guy. There's a lot of people out there who know what I do that are the bad guys," Stuart said.

It's almost impossible to retrieve what's already out there, but there are ways you can control what you release from here on out:

--Stuart says to have two e-mail addresses: one for signing up for websites and social media, and another for personal use.

--Don't use screen names or e-mail addresses containing personal info about yourself. For example, don't use your first and last name.

--Don't fill out all the ‘free’ forms hoping to win something. You are providing your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. This information can be sold.

--Social networking sites. Be careful with how much information you or your CHILDREN release. Learn how to secure the privacy settings on your accounts. Learn how to delete your MySpace account or protect your privacy on Facebook .

--Be careful with posting pictures as metadata is embedded in many pictures that can provide information leading up to verifying your exact location. Don't allow your friends to “tag” you.

--Make sure your computer is secure with a firewall and anti-virus program. People have no idea how much information can be obtained from an unsecured computer.

--Delete old accounts. An old MySpace account was where most of Thompson's information was readily available.

"I haven't even looked at that in... it's been at least three years," Thompson said.

"Think you'll take it down now?" I asked.

"Oh for sure," she said.

That's just one of the many changes Thompson is already making.