Manually opting out of data brokers' databases
Manually opting out of data brokers' databases
Has anyone ever done this by going to the website of a data broker and using their opt out form?
Obviously to do this they ask for information so they know what not to include, but it feels like I'm just giving my data to them or confirming what they already have.
Just wondering what other people think since I haven't heard anyone talk about this yet.
About ten years ago, I went through this process with as many data brokers and reporting agencies as possible. I printed documents, made accounts, mailed letters, and jumped through every hoop they set up. Some of the companies only recognized my request for a term of five years, while some were permanent.
I don't get random credit card offers in the mail any more. However, since I started using an email alias service a few years ago, I've found my data making its way back to the data brokers. I'm not in the EU, so I don't think I have much recourse for it. Even so, I think it's worth it to jump through all the hoops. Maybe one day it'll feel more meaningful.
tl;dr: It was cumbersome to do it, and other than a reduction in snail mail spam, I haven't seen much benefit from it. All the same, I'd do it again.
I have had a lot of success.
First I went through this list and filled out lots of opt-out forms: https://github.com/yaelwrites/Big-Ass-Data-Broker-Opt-Out-List
Then I emailed everyone on this (dated) list: https://github.com/privacybot-berkeley/privacybot/blob/master/app%2Fservices_list_06May2021.csv
I got a lot of follow up emails suggesting that my requests were honored, or having me do follow up steps to have my request honored. Only two pushback emails suggesting that they don't have legally respect my opt out, to which I provided them a strict do-not-contact request that hopefully encourages them to do nothing with any data they might have on me.
It was a huge amount of effort (~50 hours), but my private info was nearly ungooglable a couple of weeks after I finished.
After seeing a huge difference, I then signed up for DeleteMe, and compared to a few friends of mine who never did their own work before signing up, my quarterly reports are extremely sparse. Hopefully it's easier for them to play whack-a-mole with my data since I did lots of the initial work.
So far I can't find anything about myself I wouldn't want to see on any search engine. If I did, I would just find the opt out page and try to nip it in the bud.
DeleteMe
They seem like a scam. Their "Free Scan" gives the same results on a 20 year old email address as it does on a 2 years old address.
I also did this. Just felt dirty and have no idea if they honor it.
I also read that most of the opt-out services are owned by data-brokers. But that they were using them to try to hurt their competition. So I signed up for all the opt-out services I could find.
I recommend (no affiliation other than as a customer) https://easyoptouts.com/
I do not recommend Kanary (you cannot get to your dashboard without being an active premium member) One Rep (Mozilla just broke off their partnership. Seems extra sketch now as probably a lot of people will be avoiding them and they'll be looking for extra ways to make a buck)
The others were middle of the road, but no real complaints.
I had an idea later but Optery seems to be removing data even remotely associated to me. So, wrong middle name, or right name wrong state. Their aggressiveness makes me think they are owned by a databroker trying to hurt their competition, so I'd say if you use them, sign up with information similar to your own and hope the actual you gets caught up in their scorched earth tactics.
Discover Bank (and I think credit cards) have a feature where they'll monitor certain data brokers for your info and then submit block requests for you.
it feels like I’m just giving my data to them
Same, OP. I wish there's a way to just give your name and have them delete everything they have on that, instead of possibly giving them even more information than what they had just to request to opt out.
I tried a few manual requests by email a couple years back, they all got straight up ignored. I ended up paying for a removal service, and I’ve had better luck with them, I think they claim I’ve been removed from 70% of the ~150 brokers they target; I spot checked a few of the big ones to confirm.
It is worth noting that between county property tax records and voter registrations both being public (in the US), there isn’t much hope of actually keeping this data private. But I do get fewer spam calls than I used to, so that’s something.
I spot checked a few of the big ones to confirm.
How did you do this? Do they all have databases that can be searched, or was it through your removal service?
Hmm. I knew about tax records being public, but not voter registrations.
No not all of them, just a few of the public databases like peoplefinders and whitepages.
I work in an enclave city for the ultra-rich. We have lots of celebrities and billionaires. There are fewer than 1000 homes and the taxable value of residences in town is nearly 4 billion.
Anyway: it's hard to know who owns what because most of them put their property under an LLC named after the address to protect their privacy.
You should do that with your municipal administration.
Otherwise, i think it makes more sense to prevent them to get the data in the first place.