How To Remove Your Personal Information From the Internet

You can remove your personal information from the internet by requesting that Google and people search sites remove it, checking if your credit card offers any removal services, deleting unused accounts and adjusting your privacy settings. Removing your Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from the internet can prevent cybercriminals from stealing your identity, committing fraud and targeting you with spam. Some examples of PII that could harm your privacy if exposed include:

Continue reading to learn how to remove your personal information from the internet and why taking control of your PII is important.

1. Remove your personal information from Google

Since Google is many people’s default search engine, you should start removing your personal information from the internet by removing it from Google. You can use Google’s Results about you tool to search for any of your personal information. If you find information that you prefer Google not to have or display, you can request to have those specific results removed. After submitting removal requests, you can monitor their status to see if a request is in progress, approved or denied. You can also report a problem to Google regarding the removal of your personal information, such as if the information displays inappropriate content.

2. Remove your personal information from people search sites

People search sites gather, publish and sell your PII. Most data comes from public records or public accounts on social media; however, some people search sites buy data from private companies. To remove your personal information from people search sites, search your name in a search engine like Google to find the most popular people search sites where your information may be listed. Visit each people search site you can find, search your name and locate each site’s opt-out page. Once you submit an opt-out request on each site, you may need to wait for your request to process before your information is fully removed.

3. Check if your credit card offers a free removal service

Some credit card companies offer free monitoring services that check if your personal information is on people search sites or other places on the internet. If they find your personal information online, they will request its removal on your behalf. For example, if you have an account with Discover, they will automatically request the removal of your personal information from the internet every 90 days. You may receive a notification that they are going to do this, but having this feature on your Discover account eliminates the need to manually search for your personal information online.

4. Delete old and unused accounts

Having many old and unused accounts still open can increase your chances of getting hacked. It’s important to delete any old and unused accounts, especially if they are protected by weak or reused passwords because a hacker could access those accounts without your knowledge and use the login credentials to hack into other accounts. You can organize all your accounts’ login credentials more easily by storing them in a password manager like Keeper^®. Keeper Password Manager allows you to keep track of any new accounts you create, and if you’re no longer using an account, you can log in and deactivate it without struggling to remember your password.

5. Make public records private

Since most people search sites collect data based on public records, you should make your public records private to protect your personal information. Records that are generally publicly available include court records, marriage licenses and property titles. You can contact government agencies and other authorities that publish these records to request they be removed from public access. By making public records private, you limit the information people search sites can gather about you and sell, which helps protect your privacy.

6. Set up a Google Alert for your name

You can set up a Google Alert for your name to monitor the content related to your personal information found on Google. Google Alerts are free, and by typing in your name or other information about yourself as an individual alert, you will receive notifications with links to where your information is found on the internet. You can choose how often to receive Google Alerts – as often as once a day. If you set up a Google Alert for your name, you’ll be better protected by knowing when your personal information is online so you can remove it quickly.

7. Adjust your privacy settings

Privacy settings on your apps, online accounts and devices are crucial in protecting your personal information. For example, if one of your social media accounts is public, anyone can learn your family member’s names, your location and your interests, which could be sold to people search sites or used by cybercriminals to scam you in phishing attacks. Make sure your privacy settings are adjusted to minimize the information that can be seen publicly, such as by making any of your public accounts private.

Take control of your personal information

Your personal information should remain personal, so it’s important to know how to remove any of your PII from the internet. By requesting the removal of your information from Google and people search sites, you will significantly reduce the amount of information people can find about you online. Make sure to delete any old or unused online accounts and store your login credentials in a secure location, such as Keeper Password Manager, where you can easily update your records.

Start your free 30-day trial of Keeper Password Manager today to protect your personal information and store your login credentials in an encrypted vault.