Personal information removal service
{{Short description|Internet privacy service}}
{{Multiple issues|
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A personal information removal service is designed to help individuals reduce their digital footprint by removing their private data from the internet, particularly from data brokers and people search websites.{{Cite web |last=McAuliffe |first=Zachary |date=2023-12-22 |title=Data Brokers and Data Deletion Services: What You Need to Know |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/data-brokers-and-personal-data-deletion-services-what-you-should-know/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=CNET |language=en}} These services cater to internet users' concerns over data privacy and data brokers' widespread collection and sale of personal information.{{Cite web |last=Turner |first=Erica |last2=Auxier |first2=Brooke |last3=Rainie |first3=Lee |last4=Anderson |first4=Monica |last5=Perrin |first5=Andrew |last6=Kumar |first6=Madhu |date=2019-11-15 |title=Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/11/15/americans-and-privacy-concerned-confused-and-feeling-lack-of-control-over-their-personal-information/ |access-date=2024-05-16 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}
Background
Data brokers collect and sell people’s personal information, often without the individual's consent.{{Cite web |last=Kroft |first=Steve |date=2014-03-09 |title=The Data Brokers: Selling your personal information - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-data-brokers-selling-your-personal-information/ |access-date=2023-12-04 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}} This data includes names, addresses, and browsing habits, which can then be used for targeted advertising and risk assessment or even sold to third parties.{{Cite web |last=Walsh |first=Ray |date=2022-04-14 |title=How to Remove Yourself From the Internet in 2023 |url=https://www.comparitech.com/data-privacy-management/remove-yourself-from-internet/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Comparitech |language=en-US}} Data protection regulations like the GDPR and CCPA allow consumers to make takedown and deletion requests. However, these regulations do not prevent data brokers from initially collecting the data.{{Cite web |date=2018-11-05 |title=Everything you need to know about the "Right to be forgotten" |url=https://gdpr.eu/right-to-be-forgotten/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=GDPR.eu |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Malik |first=Omer Imran |date=2021-05-26 |title=Right to delete under California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) |url=https://securiti.ai/blog/ccpa-right-to-delete/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Securiti |language=en-US}} The proliferation of data brokers has led to an increased demand for services that can help individuals in regaining control of their personal data.{{Cite web |publisher=Medium |first1=Konstantine |last1=Buhler |date=2021-11-18 |title=The Rising Consumer Demand for Data Privacy and Autonomy |url=https://medium.com/sequoia-capital/the-rising-consumer-demand-for-data-privacy-and-autonomy-b8254bf3368e |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Sequoia Capital Publication |language=en}}
Functionality
Personal information removal services work by identifying and requesting data brokers to delete the personal information of their clients. This process can be manual or fully automated, but it is nevertheless complex because it involves dealing with numerous data brokers, each with different policies and procedures for data removal.{{Cite web |date=2022-08-24 |title=How to Remove Personal Information From Data Broker Sites |url=https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/tips-tricks/how-to-remove-personal-information-from-data-broker-sites/#:~:text=Most%20data%20broker%20sites%20will%20give%20you%20the%20ability%20to%20have%20your%20personal%20information%20removed%20from%20their%20database%20%E2%80%94%20but%20don%E2%80%99t%20expect%20it%20to%20be%20easy.%C2%A0%C2%A0 |website=McAfee |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227090419/https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/tips-tricks/how-to-remove-personal-information-from-data-broker-sites/#:~:text=Most%20data%20broker%20sites%20will%20give%20you%20the%20ability%20to%20have%20your%20personal%20information%20removed%20from%20their%20database%20%E2%80%94%20but%20don%E2%80%99t%20expect%20it%20to%20be%20easy.%C2%A0%C2%A0 |archive-date= Feb 27, 2024 }}{{Cite web |title=The best services for deleting yourself from the internet in 2024 |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/best-data-removal-services/ |date=Dec 8, 2023 |first1=Charlie |last1=Osborne |access-date=2024-02-20 |website=ZDNET |language=en}}
Companies offering personal information removal also face some issues. They struggle to ensure comprehensive data removal as new data brokers emerge and existing ones don’t always comply with removal requests. Most of them are also limited to certain regions or countries.{{Cite web |last=Fadilpašić |first=Sead |date=2023-11-16 |title=What Are Data Removal Services, and What Data Can They Remove? |url=https://www.makeuseof.com/what-are-data-removal-services-and-what-data-can-they-remove/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=MUO |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240117143114/https://www.makeuseof.com/what-are-data-removal-services-and-what-data-can-they-remove/ |archive-date= Jan 17, 2024 }}
References
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