Why Removing Your Personal Data Online Could Be the Best Defense Against Data Breaches
- Jeff Wolff
- Oct 6
- 3 min read
By Jeff Wolff, Founder & Cybersecurity Expert, Paradigm Business Solutions
When we think of data breaches, we often picture hackers breaking into corporate servers or ransomware groups stealing sensitive files. But the reality is simpler—and more troubling. Much of the personal data that fuels scams, identity theft, and breaches is already sitting in plain sight, collected legally by companies and resold by data brokers.
As Consumer Reports (CR) recently highlighted in an extensive investigation, the more databases your information is in, the more likely it is to be compromised. Every time you enter personal details to order food, subscribe to a service, or pay a bill, you’re creating what privacy experts call first-party data. But the story doesn’t stop there—data brokers purchase, bundle, and resell those details for advertising and other uses. While legal, this practice exponentially increases your exposure.
Aaron Mendes, CEO of PrivacyHawk, put it plainly to CR: “Ultimately, removing your data reduces your risk of being in data breaches, which are the root cause of scams and identity theft.”
The Problem With People-Search Sites
One of the most visible (and dangerous) examples of this ecosystem is people-search sites like Intelius, Whitepages, and PeopleFinders. For just a few dollars, anyone can uncover your birth date, home address, relatives, or even your court records. For stalkers, scammers, or identity thieves, these sites are a goldmine.
Much of the information on these sites is outdated, inaccurate, or incomplete—but still dangerous. Worse, having it compiled in one place makes it far easier for bad actors to exploit. Don't believe me? Take a minute on www.fastbackgroundcheck.com and see all the information available about you and the social circle around that can be found out for free.
Can Personal Data Removal Services Help?
The obvious question is: can you pay someone to clean up your digital footprint?
CR tested seven popular services—including DeleteMe, Optery, EasyOptOuts, and ReputationDefender—by attempting to remove volunteer data from 13 major people-search sites. The results were sobering:
Across the board, removal services only succeeded in deleting 35% of data after four months.
EasyOptOuts and Optery performed best, with removal rates of 65–68%.
Confidently and ReputationDefender fared worst, with removal rates of just 4–6%.
Manual opt-outs—done directly by individuals—were still the most effective, with a 70% success rate.
That means even the most diligent cleanup won’t eliminate every trace of your data. And, in many cases, deleted records eventually resurface.
The Most Effective Strategy: Do It Yourself
Despite the time and effort required, CR concluded that manually opting out is still the best defense. This involves visiting data broker and people-search sites, submitting opt-out requests, and periodically repeating the process (ideally twice a year).
Some important tips include:
Target key sites first. Focus on the most prominent data brokers, such as BeenVerified, Whitepages, and PeopleFinders.
Keep records. Track which sites you’ve contacted and whether your data was removed.
Limit what you share. If an opt-out form requires ID verification, redact sensitive fields like Social Security numbers.
Make it routine. Think of it like digital hygiene—something you revisit regularly to reduce long-term risks.
For those who don’t have the bandwidth to manage this themselves, low-cost services like EasyOptOuts can help, but they won’t completely erase your digital footprint.
Why This Matters for Your Security
From a cybersecurity perspective, data breaches don’t happen in a vacuum. Hackers, scammers, and social engineers rely on the massive troves of personal information freely available online. By reducing the amount of personal data floating around, you effectively shrink the attack surface that criminals can exploit.
As Yael Grauer of CR’s Innovation Lab explains: “People-search sites are a real problem for consumers who don’t want their personal information easily available to anyone with a computer.”
While no solution is perfect, regularly opting out of these databases is one of the most effective ways to reduce your risk of identity theft, scams, and targeted attacks.
Final Thoughts
Think of data removal as a form of preventative cybersecurity. Just like updating your software or using strong passwords, proactively cleaning up your personal data online lowers your exposure to risk.
At Paradigm Business Solutions, we’ve seen firsthand how much damage a single breach can cause when too much personal data is already available to attackers. While the process takes effort, the payoff—greater privacy and a reduced risk of becoming a statistic—is worth it.
The bottom line: take ownership of your digital footprint. Make “opting out” part of your regular security routine.
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