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.

Every new platform treats you like you just appeared on the internet yesterday. Your history—good or otherwise—is trapped on each platform, invisible everywhere else.

MIR makes history portable. Platforms can see that you have a track record elsewhere, and you don't have to start from zero every time.

What does MIR actually do?

MIR is like a transcript that follows you across platforms.

When you complete a transaction on Partner A, they record an event. When you join Partner B, they can ask MIR: "Does this person have history elsewhere?" MIR answers with neutral signals—not judgments.

Your history travels with you. Platforms decide what it means.

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 history. Platforms contribute facts. Your track record travels with you.

What if someone never links their accounts?

That's their choice. MIR is opt-in by design.

When a user has no linked history, MIR simply reports "no history available." This is neutral—it could mean they're new to the internet, privacy-conscious, or simply haven't opted in anywhere yet.

Platforms may choose to require additional verification for users with no portable history, but that's their policy decision—not a MIR judgment. Absence of history is not evidence of wrongdoing.

What is MIR?

MIR (My Internet Reputation) is a neutral history infrastructure that lets you build a track record over time and take it everywhere. Instead of starting from zero on every new platform, your verified 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 MIR profile. Each signal includes:

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

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 reduce uncertainty?

MIR answers one narrow question: Is this person new here, or do they have portable history elsewhere?

Key principle: MIR does not identify who to trust or distrust. It provides context so platforms can make informed decisions.

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 one event permanently define me?

No. MIR is designed to be fair:

• History grows: New activity adds to your record over time
• Context matters: Partners see patterns, not isolated events
• Disputes exist: Incorrect events can be challenged and corrected
• You control linking: You decide which platforms contribute to your portable history

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 unlink partner accounts or delete your entire MIR profile at any time—no request needed, no partner involvement required. Deleting or unlinking your MIR account does not delete your account or activity on partner platforms; those requests must be made directly with the partner. 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 uncertainty: Know whether someone is new or has portable history elsewhere
• Better onboarding: Streamline verification for users with established history
• Lower costs: Reduce chargebacks, disputes, and moderation overhead
• User confidence: Demonstrate transparent, consent-based trust decisions

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.

What are media assertions?

Media assertions are cryptographically signed statements that an issuer (news organization, government agency, creator, etc.) makes about a specific piece of media—an image, video, or document. Each assertion is tied to the file's SHA-256 hash, so it applies to that exact file and nothing else.

For example, a news organization can assert "we published this image" by signing a statement linked to the file's hash. Anyone can then verify that claim by looking up the hash.

Does MIR verify whether assertions are true?

No. MIR records who made an assertion and when—we don't judge whether the content is accurate, authentic, or original. MIR is a registry, not a fact-checker.

If two issuers make conflicting assertions about the same file, both are visible. Viewers decide what to trust based on who signed it.

What types of assertions can issuers make?

• Issued By: "We published this artifact"—the most common type, claiming authorship or distribution
• Not Issued By: "This artifact is not ours"—a denial, useful when content is falsely attributed
• Dispute: "We dispute an existing assertion on this artifact"—a cryptographic challenge to another issuer's claim

How do I look up assertions on a file?

Go to the Assertions page and either paste the file's SHA-256 hash or drop/paste the file directly. The file is hashed locally in your browser—it is never uploaded to MIR for hash lookups.

For file uploads (used for fuzzy matching), the file is sent to the server to compute a perceptual hash, but is not stored.

What if I share an image on social media and it gets reprocessed?

Platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook re-encode images (changing compression, stripping metadata, resizing). This changes the SHA-256 hash, so an exact match won't work.

MIR uses perceptual hashing to handle this. When you upload a file for lookup, MIR computes a visual fingerprint and compares it against known assertions. If the image is visually similar to one with an assertion, MIR returns a content match—even if the exact bytes differ.

What is an issuer?

An issuer is an organization or individual that signs assertions. Issuers register Ed25519 or ES256 signing keys with MIR and use them to cryptographically sign each assertion. Types include news media, government agencies, corporations, nonprofits, academic institutions, creators, and platforms.

Anyone can apply to become an issuer. Verification happens at subscription creation—through DNS domain verification or after reaching 20 successful assertions.

Can assertions be revoked?

Yes. An issuer can revoke their own assertion at any time with a reason. Revoked assertions remain visible in the record (marked as revoked) but are no longer treated as active claims. Assertions can also be superseded—replaced by a newer assertion from the same issuer, typically used for corrections.

What does "verified" mean next to an issuer name?

A verified badge means MIR has confirmed the issuer controls the domain they claim (via DNS verification) or has established a track record of legitimate assertions. Verification confirms identity, not accuracy—a verified issuer can still make incorrect claims.

Is there a cost for assertions?

Looking up assertions is always free. Anyone can search by hash or upload a file.

For issuers, a subscription is required to publish assertions. Testing is available before subscribing so you can evaluate the system. Early issuers get founder pricing locked in permanently.

How do assertion disputes work?

If an issuer believes another issuer's assertion is wrong, they can submit a DISPUTE assertion on the same artifact hash. This is a permanent, public, cryptographically signed challenge. Both the original assertion and the dispute are visible to anyone looking up the file. See the Disputes page for full details on all dispute mechanisms.

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.

Learn more about our layered security approach on our Security page.

What if I lose access to my email?

Contact us at hello@myinternetreputation.org. Recovery depends on what verification methods you've set up—additional email addresses or passkeys. If you've lost access to all of these, recovery may not be possible.

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.