Graham
Cluley
Security
News
is
sponsored
this
week
by
the
folks
at
Incogni.
Thanks
to
the
great
team
there
for
their
support!
Cybercrimes
happen
much
more
often
than
you
might
think
and
affect
a
growing
amount
of
people.
With
crimes
such
as
identity
theft
and
various
other
scams,
being
mindful
of
your
digital
footprint
is
more
crucial
than
ever.
So
how
can
you
minimize
the
threat?
1.
Opt
out
from
data
broker
sites
and
people
search
websites
Nowadays,
information
can
be
worth
more
than
money,
so
no
wonder
the
data
broker
industry
is
booming.
Moreover,
without
any
definitive
federal
laws
regulating
this
business,
data
brokers
have
been
known
to
not
only
collect
data
but
also
sell
it.
That’s
why,
with
a
growing
number
of
data
brokers
and
people
search
sites,
your
personal
info
is
more
vulnerable
than
ever.
An
average
people
search
site
gives
you
access
to
a
myriad
of
personal
information,
including
current
and
past
addresses,
phone
numbers,
property
records,
and
marital
status.
They
collect
all
of
these
personal
details
from
public
records,
court
records,
and
other
open
sources.
Fortunately,
most
also
allow
you
to
opt
out.
In
the
case
of
many
websites,
the
removal
process
is
fairly
straightforward,
as
you
may
be
required
only
to
send
an
opt-out
request.
However,
others
may
involve
an
ample
amount
of
time
and
patience.
It
can
be
particularly
time-consuming
if
you
decide
to
opt
out
of
more
people
search
sites.
That
said,
this
is
where
data
removal
services
can
really
help
out.
By
sending
automatic
opt-out
requests
on
your
behalf,
both
to
data
brokers
and
people
search
sites,
you
can
focus
on
spending
time
on
more
pleasant
things.
2.
Delete
old
online
accounts
Over
the
years,
you’ve
surely
created
dozens,
if
not
hundreds,
of
accounts
on
various
websites.
However,
even
if
you
haven’t
logged
onto
your
old
accounts
in
forever,
those
web
pages
can
still
be
sharing
your
personal
information.
What’s
even
worse,
you
may
not
even
be
aware
that
a
data
breach
occurred,
thus
making
your
account
information
known
to
hackers.
Log
into
your
email
account
and
search
for
keywords
that
might
have
appeared
in
welcome
emails
(“welcome,”
“account,”
etc.)
Once
you
find
these
emails,
head
to
the
web
page
where
you
set
up
your
account
and
simply
deactivate
it.
3.
Remove
personal
information
from
Google
Search
results
Thanks
to
Alphabet’s
feature
that
allows
you
to
remove
private
information
from
Google
Search
results,
you
can
now
influence
your
online
data
shown
in
the
search
engine.
Although
the
process
isn’t
always
successful,
as
Google
has
strict
policies
regarding
data
removal,
it
is
definitely
worth
trying.
Just
go
to
the
removal
request
web
page
and
begin
the
process.
If
you
are
very
determined
to
minimize
your
digital
footprint,
you
can
also
try
to
delete
your
personal
information
from
other
search
engines.
4.
Deactivate
social
media
accounts
Social
media
sites,
by
our
choice,
of
course,
store
plenty
of
our
personal
information.
By
sharing
social
media
posts,
we
give
these
sites
access
to
our
data,
which
can
later
end
up
being
sold.
That
is
why
the
safest
approach
is
to
simply
delete
your
social
media
accounts.
That
said,
if
you
are
not
ready
just
yet
to
go
entirely
off
the
grid,
you
can
also
tighten
your
privacy
settings.
This
will
at
least
minimize
the
number
of
people
who
can
see
your
activities.
Also,
if
you
have
time,
consider
going
through
your
old
social
media
posts
and
deleting
them.
This
way,
you
can
remove
at
least
some
of
your
data
without
entirely
giving
up
on
social
media
websites.
5.
Optimize
your
online
privacy
settings
Websites
gather
plenty
of
data
when
browsing
the
internet
without
you
even
realizing
it.
From
cookies
to
location
tracking,
you
are
informed
about
the
process,
but
you
often
are
not
aware
of
the
aftermath.
This
data
can
later
be
shared
and
even
sold,
thus
putting
you
at
risk
of
being
targeted
by
scammers
or
hackers.
What
can
you
do?
Optimize
your
privacy
preferences.
Set
all
accounts
to
private,
disable
ad
personalization,
turn
off
activity
tracking,
and
reject
cookies.
This
will
cut
down
the
amount
of
online
data
about
you.
The
takeaway
Yes,
scrubbing
your
digital
footprint
is
time-consuming
and
can
even
be
nerve-racking.
But
we
promise
just
by
sending
out
a
removal
request
to
a
data
broker
or
by
deleting
a
few
old
accounts,
you
are
able
to
significantly
reduce
the
risk
of
becoming
an
online
target.
Looking
for
a
trustworthy
data
removal
service?
Subscribe
to
Incogni’s
yearly
subscription
plan
for
just
$5.79
per
month
and
see
how
your
personal
information
disappears
from
one
data
broker
or
people
search
site
listing
after
another.
If
you’re
interested
in
sponsoring
my
site
for
a
week,
and
reaching
an
IT-savvy
audience
that
cares
about
computer
security,
you
can
find
more
information
here.
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