placeholder when text actions are loaded
You cannot completely clear yourself from the Internet. There will always be a little bit of you, whether it’s in a data-broker database, on old social media you forgot or behind someone else’s vacation photos on Flickr.
This is no reason to give up! There are a whole lot of steps you can take to protect your privacy by clearing things like your Google results. You’ll need time, money, patience, and living in a country or state with strong privacy laws for the best results.
This week’s Ask Help Desk question is about data brokers: “How do I delete my information from data aggregators?” Sagal asks Jennifer Swindell from Idaho. But first, we’re going to take a step back and start with something more public.
Checklist: What to do if you are being harassed online
Most people think of Google when they worry about their data online. The search engine is the largest indexer of websites, but it is often the only messenger. Know that anything you manage to remove from a search result will likely be on the site that’s hosting it, unless you also ask to remove it. You may also want to ask those sites to remove it.
First, Google itself. Keep a list of where your information is popping up, and look for anything particularly personal, like your address or phone number, any kind of identification details (driving license numbers) or other information that you find inappropriate. Match your name with your address or phone number in the search field.
Google recently added a form where you can request the removal of certain results or information, including explicit photos, if they are fake, posted without your consent, or simply random to your name. are visible and do not portray you. There is an option to delete information that may be used to defraud you, such as ID numbers, financial information, medical records, your physical address and other contact information.
opt out, opt out some more
Now that cosmetic requests have been made, it is time for data brokers. There are hundreds of data brokers in the United States, and you can find lists at organizations such as Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. To begin, let’s practice on the big names like Acxiom, CoreLogic, Epsilon Data Management, Equifax, and Experian. You can opt out of allowing these sites to share your data, and in some cases you can request that they remove it. Naturally, each site has different hoops, such as sending an email, filling out a form, mailing or faxing a letter, or verifying your identity.
As is the case with Google results, removing your information from data brokers doesn’t mean it’s still not available, and asking them not to share it doesn’t mean it’s already on other sites. It doesn’t have a right. They got it from a myriad of sources, including the apps you voluntarily installed on your phone, your browser or the websites you visited, your purchase history, and public records. The information can be used to target ads or bubble up in public-facing people-search sites.
Limit what you put online
The best step is to limit what information exists online about you to get started. Use our privacy reset guide to turn on strong privacy settings for the main apps or devices you use regularly, including your smartphone, banking and social media sites. If you post on social media, be careful what type of information you share and make sure your settings are set to private, if possible.
Privacy Reset: A Guide to Important Settings You Should Change Now
Use a privacy-focused browser and search engine, and look for a global privacy control option or setting to prevent cross-site tracking. Avoid signing up for anything that could result in resharing of your personal information, like surveys. Remove any applications you don’t use (or trust) from your computer, smartphone, and tablet.
In 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) came into force, giving residents of the state more options to protect and delete their data. As part of the law, companies are required to delete your personal data upon request, although you will need to confirm your identity. Some companies have gone ahead and made this option available to people living anywhere in the United States, while others only do so for residents of California. (You can also request a copy of your data, or that a company not sell your personal information in accordance with this law.)
To get you started with your first CCPA requests, Tatum Hunter of the Help Desk has created a guide.
How to ask a company to delete your personal data
use a third-party service
If you didn’t know it before starting this article, now you know how much work it really takes to stay on top of deleting your personal information. There are paid services that can delete a lot for you, and it’s a good option if you’re concerned about your personal safety (even they admit that some data is out of their control). .
DeleteMe starts at $69 per year and offers to regularly scan data brokers and websites for your personal data and request that it be deleted. OneRep is one such tool that starts at $8.33 per month. If you’re worried about identity theft, you can sign up for Norton’s LifeLock. App Jumbo strives to maximize your privacy settings in the app, and has free and paid versions. AccountKiller is a tool to delete your old online accounts.
There are also some centralized opt-out sites you can visit, such as the FTC’s Do Not Call Registry and OptOutPrescreen.com.
Doug McMillan contributed to this report.
