Frequently Asked Questions

What problem does MIR solve?

You spend 5 years being a great seller on eBay. Hundreds of positive reviews. Then you want to sell on Facebook Marketplace—you're a stranger again. Zero trust. Start from scratch.

Meanwhile, a scammer gets banned from eBay, walks over to Facebook Marketplace, and starts fresh with a clean slate. Rinse, repeat forever.

Your good reputation is trapped. Their bad reputation disappears.

What does MIR actually do?

MIR is like a transcript that follows you across platforms.

When you complete a transaction on Partner A, they tell MIR: "This person completed a transaction successfully." When you join Partner B, they can ask MIR: "Has this person been trustworthy elsewhere?"

Your history travels with you. So does the scammer's.

What about privacy?

Here's what makes it not creepy:

• Partners can only see users they already know. A random company can't just type in your email and pull up your history. They can only query you if you've already interacted with their platform.
• No email lookups. Partners identify you by their own internal ID, not your email. MIR literally won't accept "look up john@example.com."
• Cross-platform reputation requires your consent. Your eBay history and your Airbnb history stay separate unless you choose to link them.
• You see everything. Every query, every event. You can export it all. You can dispute anything. You can delete it.

Sum it up in one sentence?

You own your reputation. Platforms contribute facts. Bad actors can't hide. Good actors don't start over.

What if a bad actor never links their accounts?

MIR does not force users to link identities to gain positive reputation. However, when users verify identity attributes (such as phone or email) on partner platforms, MIR can detect collisions using privacy-preserving hashes.

If a user declines to link existing history, that refusal is visible to partners as an elevated risk signal—not as guilt, but as intentional opacity.

This design balances user consent with fraud prevention without enabling cross-platform surveillance. Scammers can no longer hide behind "clean slates" unless they use completely fresh identities every time—which is expensive, brittle, and itself suspicious.

What is MIR?

MIR (My Internet Reputation) is a neutral reputation infrastructure that lets you build trust over time and take it everywhere. Instead of starting from zero on every new platform, your verified reputation history follows you.

Is MIR a "reputation management" company?

No. This is an important distinction. Traditional "reputation management" companies offer to:

• Suppress or remove negative search results
• Manipulate SEO rankings
• Bury unfavorable content
• Create positive content to push down negatives

MIR does none of this. We do not modify, suppress, remove, or manipulate any content anywhere on the internet. We are a neutral data layer that aggregates verified reputation signals from partner platforms—nothing more.

Is MIR free?

For individuals: Yes, always free. Create an account, build your reputation, export your data—no cost.

For partners: API access is available for platforms that want to query or contribute reputation signals.

How is MIR different from a credit score?

Credit scores are opaque, controlled by corporations, and reduce you to a number. MIR is fundamentally different:

• No scores: MIR doesn't rate or judge you—we only record verified events
• Transparent: You see exactly what events exist about you
• User-controlled: You can dispute, export, or delete your data
• Neutral: Partners see history signals, not verdicts. They make their own decisions.

Where does my reputation data come from?

Reputation signals come from partner platforms—verified organizations that submit events based on your real interactions. Examples:

• A marketplace reports you completed a transaction successfully
• A freelance site confirms you delivered work on time
• A community platform verifies your account

We don't scrape the web or accept unverified claims. Only factual events from trusted partners.

What's a "reputation signal"?

A signal is a verified event tied to your identity. Each signal has:

• Type: What happened (transaction completed, account verified, etc.)
• Source: Which partner reported it
• Timestamp: When it occurred
• Weight: How significant it is

Signals are facts, not opinions. "User completed 50 transactions" is a signal. "User is trustworthy" is not.

Do I get a "reputation score"?

No. MIR doesn't score you at all. Instead, partners see neutral history signals:

• Event counts: How many verified events you have
• History depth: How long you've been active
• Partner diversity: How many platforms you've interacted with

Partners interpret these signals according to their own policies. MIR doesn't make judgments—that's your partner's decision.

Can partners look up anyone's reputation?

No. Partners can only access users they've already established using their own external IDs. MIR does not accept email as a partner identifier.

This means:

• A partner can only query users who have interacted with their platform
• Partners cannot look up arbitrary users by email or guess MIR IDs
• Cross-partner reputation is only created with explicit, user-initiated consent

Your reputation data stays siloed until you choose to link accounts.

How does MIR deter bad actors?

The core deterrent is simple: bad behavior follows you.

Mechanism	How It Deters
Portable reputation	Can't escape bad history by switching platforms
Cross-platform visibility	Fraud on a marketplace affects access to freelance sites, rentals, etc.
Verified events only	Partners submit facts (chargebacks, bans), not opinions—hard to game
Time-weighted signals	Recent bad behavior weighs more; old signals fade over time
Network effects	More partners = fewer places to hide = higher cost of bad behavior
Transparency	Bad actors know they're being tracked—changes behavior proactively

The economic reality: When the cost of bad behavior (blocked from multiple platforms) exceeds the benefit (one-time scam), rational bad actors stop. Irrational ones get filtered out quickly.

What about false accusations?

We have multiple protections:

• Verified partners only: Random people can't submit signals about you
• Dispute process: You can challenge any signal you believe is inaccurate
• Partner accountability: Partners who submit false data lose API access
• Due process: No penalties without verification

See our Bill of Rights for the full protections we guarantee.

Can someone permanently ruin my reputation?

No. MIR is designed to be fair:

• Signals age: Older events carry less weight than recent behavior
• Redemption is possible: Consistent good behavior rebuilds trust over time
• Context matters: One bad signal doesn't define you—patterns do
• Disputes exist: Incorrect signals can be challenged and removed

Who can see my reputation?

Only approved partners can query your reputation, and they only receive signals relevant to their specific use case. A rental platform can ask about your history with property; they can't see your gaming forum behavior.

You can view all queries made about you in your account dashboard.

Can I delete my data?

Yes. You can request complete account deletion at any time. We will remove your data within 30 days, except where required by law. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Can I export my reputation?

Yes. You can download all your data in standard formats. Your reputation is yours—take it with you.

Do you sell my data?

No. We don't sell data to advertisers, data brokers, or anyone else. Our business model is API access for partners, not surveillance.

Do you track me across the web?

No. We only know about interactions on participating partner platforms. We don't track your browsing, use cookies for advertising, or build shadow profiles.

Why should my platform integrate MIR?

• Reduce fraud: Identify bad actors before they cause damage
• Better onboarding: Trust good users faster based on their history
• Lower costs: Reduce chargebacks, disputes, and moderation overhead
• User trust: Show users you take safety seriously

Does MIR make decisions for my platform?

No. MIR provides signals, not verdicts. You remain fully in control of your own policies. We're a tool, not a gatekeeper.

How do I become a partner?

Apply through our partner application. We review applications to ensure partners meet our standards for data accuracy and user privacy.

How do I log in?

MIR uses passwordless authentication. Enter your email, and we'll send you a secure sign-in link. No password to remember, forget, or get stolen.

What if I lose access to my email?

Contact us at hello@myinternetreputation.org with proof of identity. We'll work with you to recover your account.

Can I have multiple accounts?

No. MIR is designed around a single identity. Multiple accounts undermine the purpose of portable reputation. Duplicate accounts may be merged or suspended.