Protecting Your Privacy from Public Information Websites

For $20, a criminal can instantly get enough personal information to invade your privacy or steal your identity, and it’s 100% legal.

Imagine this: for $20, a criminal can find out your name, address, phone number, the names of your family members, your income, your tax records, your debts, whether you own your home, any legal trouble or disputes you’ve been involved in, and more. Now stop imagining because it’s true, and it’s all perfectly legal. Public information or “people search” sites, such as Spokeo, Intelius, and PeopleFinders, make their money by selling information about people like you. (These sites are a kind of “data broker,” a business that makes money by compiling information from a variety of sources and then selling or licensing it to other businesses or individuals.)

You can’t control what personal information these people search sites publish, and they’re not even required to make sure the information is accurate. The reports they compile are available to anyone, from prospective employers, landlords, and lenders to criminals looking to invade your privacy or steal your identity. The good news is that you can fight back.

Getting Your Information Removed

With identity theft more than doubling in the last couple of years, it’s increasingly important to protect your personal information. That means taking action to get your information off public information sites and keep it off. There’s good news and bad news here, but this is a battle you can win.

You can have your personal information removed from public information sites

First good news: public information websites are obligated to remove your information if you request it. In theory, you just have to find your profile on the website and then follow their opt-out instructions. They don’t make it easy, but if you follow all the instructions, your profile should eventually be deleted.

Removing your information from public info sites can be a long manual process on your own

Bad news: In reality, it’s almost impossible to get your information removed from all public information sites. There are well over 100 of them in the U.S., and each one has its own opt-out process. Some require sending a letter or a fax to opt out, sending identity verification such as a copy of your driver’s license, or wading through levels of phone menus and waiting on hold to opt out by phone. Many of the processes to remove your info from public info sites create even further privacy risks by sending your personal information directly to the data brokers that are using your information in the first place. As a Consumer Reports blogger said, if you’re going to tackle this, “make sure to set aside a good chunk of your day, get snacks ready, and cue up some music.” And you’ll likely have to go through the process multiple times for each site because, even after they remove your report, their automated web search software will often simply compile and post a new profile on you.

How to Fight Automation with Automation

But here’s really good news: you can use automation to opt out of public information sites, with a tool such as the ForgetMe technology included with IDX Privacy.

If a profile is reposted, ForgetMe will find it and remove it again automatically, as many times as it takes. Other stand-alone deletion services can cost anywhere from $100/year to almost $1,000/year for removal alone, whereas IDX Privacy includes ForgetMe plus a whole suite of other privacy-protecting features, from a Tracking Blocker and dark web monitoring to a secure VPN that protects your online privacy away from home.

Stopping Other Online Leaks

Of course, people search sites are not the only places that expose your personal information. Your information is online in public records, social media, professional or membership sites, etc. (That’s where people search sites get it.) Here are some other ways to protect your privacy:

• Google yourself: As one reputation management expert recently pointed out “it is important to do a thorough online search of your name . . . frequently: for the good, the bad and the ugly.” Better yet, if you’re an IDX member, you have dark web and social media monitoring features to continuously do the scanning for you.
• Think twice before giving out your phone number: Phone numbers can be invaluable to thieves because many people can have the same name, but almost no one has the same phone number. With your phone number, a thief can track down enough information to reset your accounts passwords, get your cell provider to issue them a new SIM card with your phone number, or access your voice mail.
• Use social media accounts privacy settings: Making your social media accounts private can prevent public information sites from gathering information there.

Choose Your Battles to Win

There’s a lot of personal information you can’t totally protect—you can’t delete public records or prevent credit bureaus from creating a credit report on you. But public information sites are one place where you have a choice. Unlike your credit report, you don’t need a people search report to buy a house or get a loan. If you apply for a job or to rent an apartment, you can provide good references, so there’s no need to risk your privacy with people search profiles.

While you’re dealing with your own public information, make sure you do a similar check for your kids or any other family member that you care for. While children enjoy greater legal privacy protections than adults, people search sites don’t always determine a person’s age before listing their info. And remember you can extend IDX Privacy protection to your entire family, giving you back control and peace of mind.