A month or two ago, one of our members offered up Delete Me dot com (https://joindeleteme.com/) as a tool to enhance an individual’s privacy by removing personal data found (and sold) online.
Initially, I wasn’t as concerned as I should have been about online privacy. My wife and I have moved abroad. We don’t own any real estate. We aren’t business owners. My wife’s public profile is non-existent, thanks to a lifetime of smart choices. And while a few people recognize me here in Paris, I wouldn’t exactly consider myself a public figure.
So what did I have to worry about? A lot, as it turns out. The internet, you see, is no respecter of geography, profession, or personal preference. It simply feeds on information. Many times, personal information.
I decided to join Delete Me just to be safe. The less personal and financial information about me online, the better, I thought. The kicker was that I had no idea about how many websites had information on me, my wife, and Mommy Dearest.
Let me back up a moment…I signed up for one year’s worth of service from Delete Me, providing them basic personal information about myself, my wife, and later, my mother. They soon generated detailed reports that showed dozens of websites that had my information and were actively selling it to anyone willing to pay for it.
In an age ripe with identity theft and hacking, I’m happy to have spent the money and made my data just a little more difficult to locate.
You can increase your online security and privacy yourself, without paying for the service. It just takes time. There on tips and tricks listed on Delete Me .com’s website and online, of course. So that’s an option.
My advice is this…whatever you decide to do, do something to reduce the amount and detail of information about you that’s online.
Privacy is a Core Value of Old Money. It’s also something that takes vigilance to maintain in this New World.
Until next time…
- BGT
I signed up for this service when you referred to it a while back. DeleteMe issues a report of one’s online info, and it is astonishing to see how many companies have collected my data (more than 20 by my count). They even collect data I didn’t know was “public,” eg 15 years ago I had a long term project away from home and stayed in one hotel for the entire time. Somehow that hotel’s address showed up as a “former residence” on the report…
The one data collector that is still a real annoyance is “MyLife.” It takes multiple steps to get your data removed and even DeleteMe can’t completely remove your data. But, they show you how to do it.
Thank you for posting, Byron! This is such an important issue. It seems as though most people just don’t care what’s available on the internet, as sites like MyLife have information for just about anyone you Google. When you use DeleteMe, you just sort of disappear!
It is really astonishing the type of information they can obtain, including all of your relatives and their personal contact details. I really do recommend everyone try DeleteMe. The reports they generate can leave you truly surprised about what’s available to anyone doing a little light stalking on Google. The service has been worth it to us for over two years now, and I just wish more people knew about what can be found online if you don’t protect information that *should* belong only to you.
I wish I had known about this service before an unhinged suburban mom found my info online and texted me a photo of my home to threaten me all because I said something she disagreed with on social media. We had never met – all she had to do was google my name and she found my info online despite my never having put that info on there myself. I’ll be signing up for sure. Thank you!
Replying on an update, less than 12 hours after I signed up for the service my own Google search had almost NO hits for myself in comparison to multiple that listed my phone number and address the evening before. It works and I’m delighted. Thank you again for this marvelous tip.