Google updated its “Results About You” tool, and using it has been an eye-opening experience.
It uncovered my home address, phone number and email on so-called people-search websites, along with my birth date and grandma’s name—even though I requested removal from some databases years ago. It regularly sends emails alerting me to more exposed data.
And yes, your info is out there, too. Plug your data into Google’s free tool—the company promises not to use it for any other purposes—and wait a few hours for the alerts to roll in.
Why care? Easily available personal data can expose you to junk mail, identity theft or impersonation scams. For executives, government officials and public figures, the stakes are even higher. Attackers use people-search databases to increasingly target them for harassment or violence, according to a 2024 report by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. Even private individuals have become victims of doxxing, the malicious sharing of personal info.
If you’ve ever gotten a speeding ticket, bought a home, answered a census survey or registered to vote, those details are now a part of public record. Credit card sign-ups, magazine subscriptions and warranty cards are other reliable sources of personal information.
Data brokers scrape these records, plus social-media profiles, then package the data as dossiers on millions of Americans. There are hundreds of people-search services. And while most offer an opt-out process, the data can reappear when companies refresh their databases.
That’s why you might want to enlist another service, the kind that deletes your data from the internet. While services can’t completely scrub your info from the web, they can make it harder to pin you down. Here’s how it all works.
Find: See what’s out there
The profiles data brokers create are only getting more detailed.
They now include lists of people’s friends, family members and children, as well as location and vehicle information such as license plate number and car purchase history. “In 2023, we would find about 300 pieces of someone’s personally identifiable information out there. Now there are over 600 pieces,” says Rob Shavell, chief executive of DeleteMe, a personal-information removal service.
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