Tell HN: Reminder: Google your name, scrub your credit sensitive information | Hacker News Reader

Tell HN: Reminder: Google your name, scrub your credit sensitive information

20 pointseezurr6 comments

Periodically I search for my name on the internet. I can't clearly remember, but I'm pretty sure I took the appropriate measures to prevent my private information from being sold years ago. So I was surprised and angered when I found it all openly listed for free.

A few days ago I googled (yes, google.com. DDG didn't return the website for me) my name and the 3rd-4th result was fastpeoplesearch.com with ALL of my previous addresses, past phone numbers, past roommates, an old email address, and all of my immediate family members. I don't own property, so only a handful of companies I interact with could be selling all this info.

I changed phone numbers 5 years ago and my current number isn't listed, but my current address is (over a year here). No utilities are in my name. This is so frustrating.

How can I put an end to this permanently?

Anyways, if you have ever ordered one of your free credit reports, some of the security questions are your past addresses. I think other soft ID verifications use this info to IIRC, but its been awhile.

If you find your name on fastpeoplesearch.com, scroll down to the bottom and click "Do not sell my personal information" and follow the instructions.

I wouldn't put any stake into a truly permanent solution. Even if you strictly limit who you give your physical address to, or personal cell number, it'll probably leak out somehow with enough time. (ex. Your name, phone and address get stored in a 3rd parties address book outside of your control...)

So you take it to an extreme. For example, grandma probably needs to know your address if she's ever to visit you, but everyone else gets a PO box. Maybe only your spouse really needs to know your actual cell phone number, everyone else can get a proxy. But that takes time and money to maintain (emphasis on time).

IntelTechniques is a great resource for finding info on removing your data from "data brokers" in addition to the big credit reporting agencies. Quite a bit of information is provided for free on the site and associated podcast. You can also buy their book (or even hire their services).

https://www.inteltechniques.com/links.html

Don't tell fastpeoplesearch.com not to sell your information. Tell them to remove it.

I'll look into this.

I should have clarified, following the DNSMI process removes you from the site.

You can't. This is public information. Details about you do not belong to you. These are the things that your friends, neighbors, relatives remember, and perhaps more importantly, that your enemies identify you by.

These are the things that are on the lips of the people around you. They are the memories of you, and do not belong to you. Like that photo at Disneyland where you're randomly in the background, they depict you but are someone else's property. You can choose not to exist in these databases by not interacting with the world - go hide in a hole somewhere.

That these bits of random trivia are used to verify your identity is the fault and problem of the banks. It's a real problem, and one that needs to be legislated away.

I was thinking that too. When you give out your number to friends and family, your number gets added to their contact list, meaning your number is potentially public knowledge from there on in, since your family could have compromised devices or some random Flashlight app scraped the contact list for malicious reasons.

If you are in the EU, the GDPR disagrees with this belief. You have the right to your personal data, and the right to be forgotten.

After a short bout of online harrassment, I created Google Alerts for my name, common usernames, email and phone number. If something comes up, I can react quickly.

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