Reputation Management

What is reputation management?

Reputation management is the name given to any steps you take to improve your public profile, whether that be online, or in the real world.

Examples of reputation management

There are many different ways in which you can improve your public profile, and some examples of the ways in which we can help are as follows:

• Right to be forgotten applications – these can be an incredibly quick and an effective tool if there is material about you online which you wish to block from a search of your name. Provided that the information you want to block is irrelevant, outdated or otherwise inappropriate, and you have generally got a good reputation, it should be possible to block unwanted content from a search of your name.
• Appeals to the ICO – if your application for the right to be forgotten is unsuccessful, you can appeal to the Information Commissioner’s Office who will look at your case again and decide whether the search engine made the right decision or not.
• Libel claims – if your reputation has been seriously harmed by a written publication within the last 12 months, you may be able to bring a claim for libel against your opponent. You can claim for damages, an apology and an injunction to prevent them from repeating the untrue statements in the future.
• Slander claims – if a spoken untrue statement has caused you financial loss, as well as serious harm to your reputation within the last 12 months, you may be able to bring a claim for slander against the person who has harmed you. Again, the remedies are financial compensation, an apology and an injunction.
• Removing articles and blogs – in some cases, it may be possible to remove underlying publications such as articles and blogs, if they contain information which is harmful to your reputation. The effectiveness of this type of intervention depends on your case, and the content which has been published about you although this will generally take longer than a right to be forgotten application.
• Breach of privacy – if someone has breached your privacy, for example by publishing private photographs of you, or releasing to the public information about your physical or mental health, or “outing” your sexual preferences, you may be able to bring a claim for breach of privacy. Injunctions and compensation are generally claimed for breach of privacy, and in some cases, action needs to be taken very quickly, without alerting your opponent that you are bringing a claim.
• Positive population of search results – in some cases, you may be able to instruct a third party to try to populate searches of your name with positive rather than negative material. This can be a relatively expensive option, which needs to be managed on an ongoing basis, and we can discuss this with you if you are interested in this type of service.
• Changing your name – if you are unable to persuade the search engines to block search results from a search of your name, and if it is not possible for you to bring any other type of claim, the last and for some people, most extreme option would be to change your name. We can help with the formalities of changing your name, or the name of someone in your family, if there are no other options.

If you have issues with your reputation, and require help from expert solicitors, contact us today to find out how we can help.