Maybe this is a cynical, defeatist approach, but I operate under the assumption that if I've ever put data out there, it's already been sucked up by multiple databases & deleting it from the source would be meaningless.
People should also understand that "put onto the Internet" doesn't just mean typing something into a box and hitting the "post" button. It also means:
- "Private" messages that go through an intermediary web service
- All forms of cloud storage, including (especially) your photos
- Any browsing history that can be associated with an IP address that can be tied back to you
A lot of this stuff is one leaked password or SIM swap away from being public data.
Might have something to do with the GP's choice of words:
> Maybe this is a cynical, defeatist approach
140 million people had their entire credit reports/history and all associated information released to the world because Equifax thought having it all accessible, publicly, without changing the goddamn default password was a good idea.
The penalty? Profits.
They immediately bought a credit monitoring agency, then gave everyone 24 months of monitoring, for a lifelong problem. After that 24 months, a large number of people starting paying for the service, because it's a lifelong fucking problem.
Equifax is still in business today, still hoovering up all of that data, with zero recourse by the consumer and when they fucked it up, they made money.
We don't have to worry about bad actors. We have companies doing it for them, happily.