A recent research survey by NordVPN found that more than half of Americans (55%) would delete themselves from the internet if they could.
This is understandable, considering all of the ransomware attacks and corporate hacks we’ve read about over the past decade. And for judges and police officers, having their personal information accessible online represents an additional danger to themselves and their families.
Can you delete yourself from the internet? There are tips and articles online from various websites explaining how to do so. Unfortunately, some of them suggest steps that will only result in a false sense of security – and perhaps could even increase the danger of your private data winding up in the wrong hands.
Here are three myths about online privacy that you should not take seriously.
1. Google wipes your personal information
Yes, you can contact Google and ask them to remove your personal information from their search results. However, this is only a half step, because the world’s most popular search engine will only delete that content from their results, not from the underlying databases. That means if someone searches BeenVerified or another site directly, your information will still be there. And since databases are typically updated at least every month, information that disappears may often reappear later. That’s why our service monitors these sites even after we’ve had our clients’ content deleted.
2. Removing your content from “people-finder” websites is enough to keep you safe
While these may be the first places searched by those seeking your home address, there are many other places where this content can be found. Think about social media, or club memberships, or community organizations that list members. One man with a grudge against a judge went so far as to self-publish a book that slandered his target and included his home address in the book’s title. We found it and made sure amazon and other online booksellers deleted that content.
Plus, as stated earlier, removing your content once from people-finder sites is insufficient, as these sites would not exist without the revenue this data generates. Even if they remove content once, they might put it back months later.
3. Filing a removal request gets results
Even the websites that suggest this strategy don’t have much confidence in how well it works. Usually they’ll say something like “file a removal notice and hope they will follow through”. Hope is not enough when a situation can result in harassment or violence. You need to be assured that your home address and phone number are removed – and that they stay removed.
And yes – we do that. If you are not receiving IronWall360 protection yet...
