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How to remove info from ‘people search’ websites?
Before we discuss how to remove your personal information from people search website on the internet, let’s talk about what people search websites actually are. They are websites that store personal information about individuals that they scrounge, purchase, hack and gather from various sources, some of them legal and some of them shady. These websites sometimes also call themselves background check sites, friend finders, family finders, lost love finders and other such things. They also tout themselves as “cheater finders” meaning they can uncover if your partner was cheating. Some allude to the idea that they can uncover if your loved one or date is hiding something very shady from you, maybe a criminal record or a marriage. A family in another state perhaps? A pile of debt? These sites feed on our most basic hopes, fears and worries to get us to click that button that takes us to a purchase page.
Clickbait is the bread and butter of people search websites. They post teaser information about you or others such as your name online your address or phone numbers. As soon as you want to see more information, you are immediately taken to a new page that “scans for more information” but what they are usually scanning is your computer to get whatever public information they can out of your search history. When the “scan” is done, you are then given more teaser information and then you are asked to pay a fee to get the rest of the data you’re looking for. Often it goes something like this; you’ll get a message saying “We found three new records of potential criminal activity on XYZ! Pay only $9.99 for unlimited access to this information.” Thinking to yourself that nine dollars isn’t that bad to find out if your new boyfriend/girlfriend is a murderer, you fork over your credit card info and click “PAY.” You are then taken to a new page that reveals!!!! A traffic ticket or some other such nonsense, or nothing at all. It’s not until a month later that you realize that your credit card is being charged for a subscription, no refunds! Now you have to go about getting the company to stop charging you or close down your card.
Sites like these do manage to get some information about you and others you know, just enough to potentially cause damage, but not enough to really mean anything. However, if someone you don’t want to see is able to access your address and phone number, which can be a big problem for you later on. For most people, this is something the want to fix right away. You can remove your personal data from the internet. There are data removal companies who have search removal expertise. Your best action is to find a good, reliable company and ask them clear questions about what they do and how they do it. A good one can and will help you get your personal data off the internet and a keep it off.
If you have questions about data removal, talk to the team at Wiperts.
