Strangers, scammers, and data brokers can easily find your personal information online. From people-search websites listing your home address to breached accounts exposing your phone and email, the risks include identity theft, doxxing, stalking, and financial fraud. You can reduce your exposure and take back control. This guide explains how to audit your digital footprint, remove sensitive information, and keep it private going forward.
Step 1: Audit Your Digital Footprint
Search your name, phone, email, usernames, and address on Google and Bing. Use reverse image search to check where your photos appear. Look up your email and phone on breach databases such as Have I Been Pwned. Search people-finder and broker sites to locate profiles. Keep a spreadsheet of URLs, notes, and request statuses to stay organized.
Step 2: Lock Down Social Media and Public Profiles
Make accounts private when possible and remove public posts with home addresses, workplaces, or family details. Scrub bios of phone numbers and emails. Untag or delete sensitive photos, and strip EXIF metadata before posting. Use separate emails or aliases for public-facing profiles.
Step 3: Opt Out of Data Brokers and People-Search Sites
Data brokers build profiles from public and purchased records. Opt out of major ones such as Whitepages, Spokeo, Intelius, BeenVerified, PeopleFinders, Radaris, MyLife, FastPeopleSearch, and Nuwber. Always copy the profile URL before submitting an opt-out request. Use a dedicated email alias for confirmations and revisit quarterly, since listings can reappear. Paid services like DeleteMe, Incogni, or Kanary automate this process if you prefer not to manage it manually.
Step 4: Scrub Search Engines and Caches
Even after removal, cached versions of your data may linger. Submit takedown requests to Google and Bing for sensitive personal information, outdated content, or cached pages. Google’s “Results About You” feature helps flag contact details in search results. For content you control, delete or update pages first, then request cache removal.
Step 5: Delete or Anonymize Old Accounts
Old accounts are vulnerable to data exposure. Use directories like JustDeleteMe to find deletion steps for specific sites. If deletion isn’t possible, replace personal details with placeholders. Use a password manager to rotate unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication. If your main email has been exposed repeatedly, migrate to a new one and forward mail during the transition.
Step 6: Remove Content You Control
Take down posts with personal information from your own websites, blogs, and forums. Add a noindex tag to pages you cannot delete. Scrub secrets from code repositories and update READMEs to avoid exposing contact details. Enable WHOIS privacy at your domain registrar. Request exclusion from the Wayback Machine if archived content reveals sensitive data.
Step 7: Protect Your Financial Identity
Freeze your credit at Equifax, Experian, TransUnion, and Innovis. Set up fraud alerts if needed and monitor your reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. Replace exposed credentials quickly and watch for unauthorized account activity or address-change notices.
Step 8: Use Legal Rights Under Privacy Laws
Privacy laws grant deletion rights depending on your jurisdiction. Under GDPR, you can request erasure and object to processing. California’s CCPA/CPRA gives rights to delete, know, and opt out of sale or sharing of personal data. Other states and countries have similar laws. Look for links like “Do Not Sell My Info” or “Privacy Request” on websites and submit requests with only the minimum identifying data required.
Step 9: Reduce Tracking and Location Exposure
Enable Global Privacy Control in your browser to signal opt-out preferences. Use industry ad-opt-out tools and reset mobile ad IDs. Disable precise location tracking for apps that do not need it. Use email aliases and masked phone numbers for sign-ups to reduce linkage between accounts.
Step 10: Monitor for Re-Exposure
Set Google Alerts for your name, email, and phone. Check broker sites every few months to ensure removals stick. Adopt a “privacy by default” mindset by avoiding posts with personal identifiers. Use a PO box or commercial mailbox instead of your home address for deliveries and registrations.
Handling Doxxing, Harassment, and Non-Consensual Images
If you are targeted online, document all URLs, screenshots, and timestamps before takedowns. Report violations to hosting providers and platforms. File DMCA takedowns for stolen content where applicable. Use emergency removal tools from search engines for explicit or highly sensitive data. Contact local authorities and legal counsel in serious cases of harassment or extortion.
Pro Tips and Templates
Use a dedicated email for privacy requests. Keep a log of submission dates and confirmations. If a site refuses removal, cite applicable laws such as GDPR or CCPA. When required to submit ID, redact nonessential details and watermark the document with “For [Site] Opt-Out Only.”
Simple Data Deletion Request Template
Subject: Data Deletion Request (GDPR/CCPA) – [Your Name]
Hello [Company/Data Protection Officer],
I request access to and deletion of all personal data you hold about me pursuant to [GDPR Art. 17 / CCPA]. Please opt me out of any sale or sharing of my personal information and remove my data from downstream third parties.
Identifiers to locate my record: [Full name, city/state, email(s), phone, profile URL].
Please confirm completion in writing and list any categories of data you cannot delete and the legal basis for retention.
Thank you,
[Your Name]
[Email/alias]