Surprising places your personal data is exposed and how to remove it

Identity thieves and scammers don’t need backdoor access to confidential databases to get the information they need for their schemes. Often, just one Google search is enough to find not only your personal data, but also biographical information about your life. This holds true even if you’ve signed up for data removal services. That’s because data brokers aren’t the only ones putting your information out there. Other sources, like property listings, old news articles, and even announcements from your previous jobs, can provide scammers and identity thieves with the details they need to spin a convincing story.

Most data removal services only work with people search sites, but there are some, like Incogni, that let you submit links to almost any website that’s exposing your data. This feature is called “custom removals.” In this article, I’ll show you some of the most popular cases in which it’s not people search sites that expose your personal data, and how to take that data down.

Surprising ways your information ends up on the internet

While people search sites are usually the main suspects when it comes to exposing personal data, they’re not the only ones. As I mentioned earlier, seemingly harmless websites like old news articles or property listings can also play a role. And if someone wants to do their homework on you, like scammers preparing for their schemes, every source counts. Let’s see this in more detail.

Outdated news coverage

There are plenty of reasons why your name might show up in the news, maybe you helped organize a local event, or you were the victim of a fraud case. If you’ve ever held public office, the chances are even higher. No matter the reason, these articles can reveal a lot of personal details about you and your life, making things easier for potential scammers.

Real estate listings

Whether you’re renting or selling a property, you have to provide some basic information, like your phone number or email address. That information can stay online long after the deal is done. But your phone number isn’t the only valuable detail scammers might find. By looking up your property, and there are websites that list people’s properties, scammers can easily estimate your potential net worth and find different ways to target you.

Professional announcements

Your current or former company’s press releases, blog posts, and directories might still show details about your promotions, achievements, and other events. Even if these pages seem buried under newer announcements, they’re often still indexed and searchable online. This information can help scammers piece together your profile, things like your profession, career progression, and even your current place of residence.

And the list goes on

University websites, healthcare directories, genealogy sites, and even sports records can reveal bits of your personal or biographical information. And the list goes on, with many more types of websites potentially exposing your personal data, making you more vulnerable to attacks

With the examples above, I hope I’ve helped you see how various pages that seem harmless at first can actually be used by scammers to harm you. Now, let’s see how you can take that information down.

Custom Removals: How to take down your personal information from non-data broker websites

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, subscribing to data removal services won’t help you remove your information from websites that aren’t data brokers. At least, that’s true for the vast majority of these services. But there’s at least one service that can help you take down your personal information from sites ranging from people search sites to genealogy sites, and that service is Incogni.

Incogni is a data removal service that, at its core, isn’t much different from the rest; it automates the process of sending removal requests to data brokers. But while most services stop there, Incogni goes a step further. With its Custom Removals feature, you can ask Incogni’s staff to remove your data from websites that aren’t data brokers.

How custom removals help you take control

Most data removal services focus only on people search databases, leaving the rest of the web untouched. Custom removals go beyond that. They allow you to request takedowns from almost any site that contains your private information.

If you use a service that supports custom removals, here’s how the process typically works:

• Search your name on Google and note which results display your personal data.
• Copy the URL of each page that exposes your information.
• Log in to your account on the data removal platform.

• Navigate to the custom removals section and submit the URLs.

• Confirm the submission and wait for the service to process your requests.

The service’s team then reaches out to the website administrators to request removal on your behalf. It’s a simple way to expand your privacy protection beyond traditional data broker lists.

And that’s it. Incogni takes it from there.

A service like Incogni can help you remove all this personal information from the internet. It has a very clean interface and will scan 420+ websites for your information and remove it and keep it removed. Plus Incogni has received third-party assurance from Deloitte validating its entire data removal process.

The longer you wait, the more data brokers spread your personal information online. I recommend Incogni to help you remove that data automatically (and they make sure it stays removed) without any effort on your part.

Exclusive Black Friday Deal for CyberGuy Readers (60% off):  Incogni offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and then charges a special CyberGuy discount for all annual plans only through the links in this article for as low as $6.39/month for one person (billed annually) or $13.19/month for your family (up to 5 people) on their annual plan. This fully automated data removal service provides ongoing protection from 420+ data brokers, and if you choose the Unlimited plan, you can also request removals from specific sites where your personal information appears.

I recommend the family plan because it works out to only $2.64 per person per month (or $4.80 per person per month if you get the Family Unlimited plan) for powerful year-round privacy protection. It’s an excellent service, and well worth trying to see how much of your information is being exposed and how effectively it can be removed.

Get Incogni here

Get Incogni for your family (up to 5 people) here

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Related Links: 

• What exactly is a data breach, and why should I care?
• Your health data is being sold without your consent
• Stop foreign-owned apps from harvesting your personal data

Kurt’s key takeaways

Your personal information can spread online in ways you never intended. Even if you use a data removal service, your details may stay on old news articles, property pages, and work announcements. With custom removals, you can finally take control and shut down those loose ends that scammers exploit. Taking a few minutes to track down these pages can protect you from identity theft and give you more privacy online.

What surprising website did you find your personal information on when you searched your name? Let us know in the comments below. 

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This article was created in partnership with Incogni

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