Learning how easy it is for companies to gain and track your information is enough to make you queasy. Provided your email for a store’s loyalty program? Your in-store purchases are now linked to what you buy from that retailer online. Have you ever walked through a public space, like an airport or shopping center, with your Wi-Fi on? Some of these locations use Wi-Fi analytics to track things like your physical route, how often you’re there, and how long you’re there for. Even taking a simple drive in the car can leave a digital trail, thanks to automated license plate readers that record when and where vehicles pass their cameras.
According to Povilas Reinotas, Head of Product Operations at Incogni, a platform which automatically removes personal information from data broker databases, “Behind the scenes on your simple trip to the store, your real-world location, financial behavior, and digital identity may be weaponized against your privacy.” While this may sound completely outrageous, it’s often perfectly legal. And when you reveal personal data — intentionally or not — it can eventually make its way into the hands of data brokers: companies that aggregate your personal data in extensive databases, in order to sell it. Depending on who buys it, this could mean an increase in spam calls, more-convincing phishing attempts, or even the ability for any stranger to look up your home address.
The good news is that even as data brokers become more pervasive, Reinotas says there are simple ways to keep your personal info personal — and one of them is as easy as registering for a data removal service.
How do you know if your data has been sold?
The short answer: it’s difficult.
Googling yourself is a worthwhile first step; you might discover that your phone number and home address are already listed on a people-search site. But a clean Google search doesn’t necessarily mean your information is private.
“A big part of the data broker network is composed of private data brokers, who deal with massive amounts of personal data without making it publicly available,” Reinotas explains. Those companies may keep information in private databases that can then be sold to other brokers or used for marketing and other commercial purposes. In other words, you don’t necessarily need to see evidence that your information has been sold to assume that some of it is circulating.
Strong passwords aren’t enough
Don’t get us wrong: Using unique, strong passwords and multi-factor authentication are still important. But those measures protect access to your accounts; they don’t prevent data brokers from collecting information about you.
“Strong passwords protect your accounts, and that’s important. However they don't stop data brokers, who collect and sell your personal info legally, often without ever touching your passwords,” Reinotas says. And while you may never have fallen victim to a scam, that doesn’t necessarily mean your information isn’t exposed.
One way to reduce your exposure is to ask data brokers to delete whatever info they have on you. You could attempt this yourself, but finding which companies hold your information, submitting removal requests, and then continuing to monitor whether your data reappears takes considerable time.
Incogni automates that process: When someone signs up, Reinotas explains, the service scans people-search sites and search engines for information associated with that person, verifies exposures, and submits removal requests. It addresses both public-facing people-search sites and private data brokers. And there can be a lot to remove: Reinotas says a typical new Incogni user has information on roughly 100 to 150 people-search sites.
Your old apps aren’t really gone
Think deleting an app means deleting the information you gave it? Not necessarily.
“Most companies tend to retain data even after you delete the app, because your account stays registered with the service,” Reinotas says. For greater privacy, he recommends requesting a copy of the data the company has about you, asking that the information be deleted, and deleting the account itself — rather than simply removing the app from your phone.
It’s also worth being more selective before handing over information in the first place. Every new app, account, form, survey, or loyalty program you fill out or sign up for can collect another piece of personal information. That doesn’t mean you need to swear off online shopping or rewards points forever. But before providing your birthday, phone number, home address, or other details, consider whether the service actually needs them — or whether you’re simply filling in a box because it’s there.
If you’re clearing out old apps to free up some storage, there’s one you might want to consider adding: The Incogni app helps you take back some of the personal information you’ve left behind over the years by identifying data brokers that may have your info, and sending removal requests on your behalf. So while deleting that ancient Skype account is a good start, Incogni can help clean up the digital trail that’s much harder to see — and delete — yourself.
Scams are getting scarily personal
Remember when phishing emails were relatively easy to spot, thanks to bizarre grammar, clearly fake email addresses, and obviously suspicious requests? AI is making those clues less reliable.
Reinotas says cybercriminals can combine information collected about a person with AI tools to create highly targeted scams more quickly and cheaply. That could include personalized messages or even deepfake audio impersonating a family member asking for emergency money.
“Most scams aren't random; they're built on specifics,” Reinotas says. Reducing the amount of personal information available about you online makes it much more difficult for scammers to impersonate you or someone you love. The harder your profile is to piece together, he explains, the more effort it takes to target you — and scammers looking for easy targets may move on.
Deleting your data isn’t one-and-done
Unfortunately, getting your information removed today doesn’t guarantee it won’t pop up again six months from now.
Reinotas says data brokers can re-collect and re-sell your information even after you’ve had it removed. That’s why Incogni continues monitoring and resending removal requests rather than treating deletion as a one-time task. Reinotas compares a single round of removals to putting “a band-aid on an open wound”: It can help, but it doesn’t address the longer-term problem.
There are limits to what any removal service can do. Incogni, for instance, can’t remove self-authored content or information from government sites, and deleting information from major social platforms may require deleting the account itself.
Still, while you may never be completely invisible online, you can make yourself a much harder target. The less information scammers can easily find about you, the harder it is to build a convincing scam. And as Reinotas explains, when targeting you becomes too much work, they’re more likely to move on.
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