Majority of the people assume that hackers are the biggest cause of threat to their online privacy along with with data breaches just as the incident with Marriott showcases. Of course, it’s true both are certainly a big concern, your digital transformation is at greater risk from an insidious threat. To be honest, your personal information floats around the web, and the majority of it came directly with what you have shared.
Every time you want to buy something online or create a new account by either using your FaceBook account, you are handing out chunks of personal information and these chunks of information that are being collected by data brokers who then compile all the chunks together to create an identifiable digital profile. These profiles include your (gender, age, race, weight, height, email address, phone number, occupation, income, investments, net worth, address, marital status, political affiliation, product preferences, religious thoughts) and a lot more.
Brokers have a job to access and hunt all these details and then sell the profiles to online marketers. It sounds like a fraud, but in most cases it is legal. On paper, we can say everything is according to the law that most of us don’t read. While the unfortunate 100% solution from this information loss is by only stopping from going online. Then again, since that is not the feasible option, the next best option is to remove your information from most of the popular data broker sites through a service called “DeleteMe.”
DeleteMe – Privacy Protection Services
Just as the name suggests, the service acts accordingly. When you sign up on it, at the back end of the service trained internet privacy individuals to search and delete all your personal information from multiple different leading data broker sites. DeleteMe later sends you a detailed report regarding what has been removed within seven days.
The report is a comprehensive analysis of the information removed and the databases from which the information has been deleted as well. After which the service monitors and removes your data online on a quarterly basis depending on the duration and validity of your subscription.
The Service Guarantees Results
It can be said, among other services DeleteMe is the fastest and the easiest method to prevent people from benefiting off your identity and make sure that your information doesn’t get in the wrong hands. The service provides functional customer support and a guarantee that your information will be dealt with properly to reduce any chances of data brokers accessing your information.
DeleteMe has a good pricing plan that includes both yearly and two-year subscriptions with plans that cover multiple people making it a good service.
Additional ways to prevent data from being misused
- For starters, you can try to remove yourself from the company’s databases. For that, you can click on the “Filing History,” and then select the “DATA BROKER REGISTRATION” where you will receive a document in PDF that will contain the details from the company on how to remove your online information.
- Users can opt for using Data & Marketing Association’s DMAchoice program which is mainly designed for opting out from direct mail and email messages. It is also used by corporations to remove consumers from their internal lists permanently. The registration for the service lasts for two years with a $2 subscription.
- It’s further safe to consult online guides that provide a step by step procedure for “opt-out.“ Systems administrator at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society Griffin Boyce has compiled an “opt out guide.” While another has been prepared by Joel Winston, currently an attorney known for his work on consumer protection and data privacy. Users can find many other guides online if the proper keyword is being searched for.
- Also, users can limit data loss by deleting unnecessary apps using browsers that have ad blockers by adjusting your privacy settings. If that doesn’t satisfy you then using privacy tools like ExpressVPN will do a dandy good job in encrypting your online activities and keeping your online presence a secret.
- If you fall under the “protected class,” that includes victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and identity theft or people working in the law enforcement, then California is among the few states that provide a ‘Safe Home’ that allows victims online details to be wiped out to secure their identities from databases.
What More?
If you are still concerned over how the company is using your personal data, then you can file a formal complaint through the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that has previously issued millions of dollars worth penalties over the course of unlawful and unjust behavior by credit agencies and data brokers being held accountable.
It will be wise of users to retain their information and only a certain amount of required data if necessary. An excessive amount of information being shared does lead to your information being misused.
