How to remove information about you from the Internet, and why to do it

With so much personal data publicly on the internet, people have a healthy interest in controlling the flow of information. Some take matters into their own hands by opting out of certain data collection websites or using paid data removal services. How can you delete your data from the Internet, the publication said CNBC.

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Whether or not to do this, and which option you choose, depends largely on your privacy concerns, how much time and energy you can spend, and how much you're willing to pay for protection.

"As much as you care that your phone number is out there and people know you're married," said Steven Wicker, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University.

Identity theft and your online footprint

We are talking about data collected by many online companies called data brokers. They collect consumers' personal information, often by selling it to other organizations. This data may include a person's name, postal address, birthday, relatives' names, social media, property value, occupation, and other data that can be used for various fraudulent schemes.

“For the purposes of identity theft, it's like tiles in a jigsaw puzzle. The more tiles you have, the more accurate the reproduction can be,” explained Adam Levine, a consumer advocate and former director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs who co-hosts the cybersecurity podcast.

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Not everyone is as concerned about their personal data being exposed to the public, but there are reasons why people might be more sensitive to the matter. These include those who have experienced or are concerned about harassment, those who work in law enforcement or in high-level corporate positions, said Damon McCoy, assistant professor at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering.

Tools for removing personal information

There are ways to limit the amount of personal information available online. Many people search websites such as Spokeo, mylife.com и Radaris, have procedures to allow consumers to request deletion from their database.

In addition, Google recently released a new "Results About You" toolby which consumers request the deletion of search results containing their personal phone number, home address, or email address. While deleting these results does not remove a person's contact information from the internet, it is the first step to prevent misuse of personal information.

You can also ask Google remove certain links to other information found in a Google search. If possible, start by asking the website owner to remove the content. If that fails, Google says it may remove personal information "that poses a significant risk of identity theft, financial fraud, or other specific harm."

Disadvantages of a Do-It-Yourself Approach to Data Management

The downside to the DIY approach is that it requires constant oversight to ensure the data doesn't reappear.

“You can do it yourself, although the process is very time consuming because you have to go to separate websites and follow the rules on how to delete your data,” said Rahul Telang, professor of information systems at Carnegie Mellon University.

“Moreover, you will certainly have to repeat the process, because sometimes the information may appear again. It's a lot like unsubscribing from mailing lists,” wrote Mike Kiser, director of strategy and standards for privacy firm SailPoint.

“You can click unsubscribe, but it is very difficult to make sure that the data was deleted on their part and that they did not resell the data to another organization, which makes it much more difficult to remove personal information,” Kiser said.

Subscription payment

For some people, the time and energy required to remove personal information from various sites is enormous, so they prefer to pay for a service that does this for them and provides regular progress updates. There are several such services, including DeleteMe, Kanary и OneRep from Abine Inc..

Costs can range from $7 to $25 a month, depending on the provider and whether it's an individual or family plan, Kiser says. Annual subscriptions are often available.

For example, one of the options that DeleteMe offers is $129 per person per year. Kanary offers a free version of its service and a paid version that costs $105 per year for one person and $150 for a family plan that covers one person and two loved ones. OneRep has a plan for $99,96 per year for a single user and $180 per year for a family of six.

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It can be difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of these services, in part because so much personal information is in the public domain. Kanary claims in the FAQ section of its website that the success rate for deletion is over 70% for each user. OneRep claims that 2021 million records have been deleted in 5. The DeleteMe website says that on average, 2389 items of personal information are discovered in a two-year subscription.

Before signing up for a paid service, be sure to carefully compare the offers, in particular the price, as well as what is included and how often the service communicates its progress to customers. In addition, you can find out if a free trial is available. If you're using a credit monitoring service, Levin says it's logical to ask if the data deletion feature is turned on.

Among other things, you can find out if your company will pay for this service, since some employers offer it as an employee benefit.

Privacy laws in the US are weaker than in Europe

In practice, it is not possible to remove every piece of online information associated with your name. Some types of information, such as public records, are public and may be searchable. What's more, some sites, especially those hosted outside the US, do not offer an opt-out process. The data you can delete is much more limited in the US than in Europe, where privacy laws are stricter.

“The reality is that once you're on the internet, you're there forever. You can delete information, but this does not mean that it is no longer there, ”Levin emphasized.

He recommends conducting ongoing privacy audits using Google on its own or working with paid services.

“You have to be on your guard all the time,” he concluded.

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