The Reality of Removing Your Data Online

With the digital world at your fingertips, there is no limit to your possibilities. Or is there?

With our personal information accessible to anyone with a computer or smartphone, we are exposed to a variety of risks, from identity theft and financial fraud to invasion of privacy and emotional distress. Although there are services that allow you to request the removal of your private information from data broker and people search websites, protecting your data privacy is not a one-and-done fix. It’s a never-ending battle you need to be prepared for.

How Your Personal Information is Used by Big Business (and Bad Actors)

Every move you make on the internet – i.e., posting a photo on Instagram, reading an article on your favorite news website, or making a purchase from your favorite shoe store – you leave digital fingerprints. Those digital fingerprints create an identifiable profile of you, your preferences, and your behaviors. That data is used to target you for advertising, phishing scams, and effectively influence your actions.

What Happens When I Remove My Data?

Removing your data from data broker websites doesn’t mean you will never receive another spam email again. It also doesn’t mean you’ll never be targeted in a phishing scam again. It doesn’t even mean you’ll never see another personalized advertisement again. The truth is you can never* truly be completely “off the grid.” As you continue to use the internet in your day-to-day life and continue to leave digital fingerprints, your data will reappear on data broker and people finder websites.

This is why protecting your data privacy requires constant attention and action. As technology advances, there will always be a possibility of spam, scams, and identity fraud. However, by using data broker website removal services (like Privacy as a Service), you have taken back control of your personal data. You have more sovereignty over the things you buy, the decisions you make, and the information you share with the world.

*Unless you never get a cell phone, never live in a house/apartment, never use a credit card, never drive a car, never get a job, or never got a social security number.