How to hide your personal details from data brokers

Question: Is there an easy way to get my personal information off of public-listing websites?

Answer: If you’ve ever tried searching for someone on the internet, you know how many “people search” sites are available online offering information for a fee.

What’s even more shocking to so many is the type of information that can be easily found: your full name, address, previous addresses, birth date, phone number and more.

While many would perceive this type of information to be private, the reality is that so much information is easily acquired because it’s actually very public.

Most of the sites you’ll run into are data brokers that collect information from a variety of public-record sources: real-estate transactions, court records, voter-registration databases, marriage and business licenses — the list goes on.

Combining public records with social-media profiles, advertising networks and your various online shopping accounts is a huge data-mining resource for many companies in today’s digital economy.

When it comes to public records, there is very little you can do to remove your information.

If you’re willing to pay a visit to your county clerk’s office, you can review what is being made public and inquire about what information can be removed or at least redacted from the public view.

Knowing that certain records are always going to be public should get you to start thinking like a celebrity.

Using a P.O. box or, better yet, a private mailbox service from companies like the UPS Store or PostNet prevents your primary home address from being shared via public records.

A P.O. box will only accept U.S. postal mail and often can’t be used for things like voter registration, which is why having a physical address through a private mailbox service is better.

A private mailbox service can also accept the shipments from all your online purchases, further protecting your home address.

Ken Colburn is founder and CEO of Data Doctors Computer Services https:// datadoctors.com. Ask any tech question at: https://facebook.com/DataDoctors or on Twitter @TheDataDoc.