How To Protect Your Digital Information From Home

Imagine it. You meet a stranger, and they already know your full name, where you live, how old you are, your previous address, and the names of several members of your family. It’s a scary thought. But it happens.

Now imagine that stranger knows where you shop, what interests you, and even places you’ve visited. You’d probably have some serious questions. Like, who are you, where did you get this information, and why are you collecting it? All would be fair responses.

You haven’t even considered the uncomfortable part. You don’t necessarily have to meet that stranger. Pieces of this information may already be available through the internet’s enormous personal-data marketplace. And some companies in that marketplace are businesses you’ve never heard of, much less knowingly shared information with.

One of the most unsettling things about your digital footprint isn’t necessarily what you’ve posted online. It’s what other people can discover, purchase, or infer about you without ever asking.

This actually happened to me while I was a Deputy Sheriff. Imagine walking into work, and accused Spree Killer Nicholas Sheley stops you and asks how it feels to know he can get access to everything about you, including your address, phone number, and associates. Then he tells you he’s already done it to others in your department.

Fortunately, there are ways to investigate what’s out there. What you discover might make you rethink how you use the internet.

The Business of Knowing Everything About You

Amazingly, there’s an entire industry built around collecting, organizing, and selling personal information. People in the industry are commonly called DATA BROKERS. Unlike Facebook, Amazon, or your favorite shopping website, you may never have knowingly interacted with these companies.

They can collect information from public records, commercial databases, online activity, and other sources. Then, they combine it into profiles that can be sold or licensed to third parties. This is why the California Privacy Protection Agency has an official Data Broker Registry that describes the industry and the types of information involved.

The information can include far more than names and phone numbers. Depending on the company and its sources, data brokers may handle location information, browsing histories, health-related data, and other sensitive details.

Keep in mind, some information is collected directly from the source. Other information is inferred based on your available information. Essentially, they profile you based on information they put together.

This is all used to put you into a marketing category. The category might be accurate, but it might also be completely wrong. Either way, decisions about what you see online can be influenced by a profile you have never been given an opportunity to review.

Your Information Might Influence What You Pay

In January 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released initial findings from an investigation into something called surveillance pricing. They were looking at how intermediaries used personal information to help businesses tailor prices or promotions. The information used was browsing behavior, location, demographics, and shopping history.

Even little actions, such as moving a mouse around a webpage or leaving something in an online shopping cart, can contribute to these systems. Their findings didn’t find that every retailer uses surveillance pricing, or that every consumer is being charged differently. But they did demonstrate something important.

Your personal information isn’t valuable only because advertisers want your attention. It can be used to make commercial decisions about you. These were the FTC’s findings.

Consider the implications of this. The internet isn’t simply recording what you have done. Businesses are more capable of using collected data to predict what you’ll do next. And that’s a scary thought.

What Does The Net Actually Know About You?

There’s a way you can begin finding out today. You don’t need specialized software, programming experience, or an expensive subscription. All you need is a search engine, some patience, and a willingness to investigate your own digital identity.

There are seven practical steps you can follow if you want to find out what the internet knows about you.

1. Search for Yourself As a Complete Stranger Would

Open Google and search your full name inside quotation marks. Try different combinations such as:

• Your full name and hometown

• Your name and previous city.

• Your name and telephone number.

• Your name and email address.

• Your name and former employer.

Repeat the process using other search engines and take notes. Pay attention to unfamiliar websites displaying personal details. You might find old social media accounts, forgotten photographs, public documents, or people-search websites.

You shouldn’t assume that every result belongs to you. People with similar names are frequently confused with one another. Also, avoid paying an unfamiliar website because it claims to have found a secret report about you. They can be scams.

2. Investigate People-Search Websites

People-search websites are among the most accessible examples of the personal-information marketplace. Some aggregate names, addresses, possible relatives, and other information into searchable reports.

If you want to find out how these websites work and how to opt out, check out the FTC’s guide.

One thing to remember is that removing your information from a people-search website doesn’t necessarily remove underlying public records. And your information can reappear when databases are updated. Privacy maintenance isn’t always a one-time thing.

3. Learn What Google Has Found About You

Google offers a free feature called Results About You. It can identify search results containing personal contact information, including your home address, phone number, and email address. But you can request the removal of eligible results.

Google — Results About You

Follow the setup instructions and select the information you want monitored. Remember, there is a limitation. Removing a result from Google search doesn’t automatically mean deleting the information from the website hosting it. Think of it more like making it harder to find your information, but not impossible.

4. Examine What Your Google Account Remembers

If you use Google Services, then you should visit:

Google My Activity

It depends on your individual account settings, but you may find records of searches, YouTube activity, and other interactions with Google services. You can review activity control settings, delete eligible histories, and set up automatic deletion.

It might surprise people to see how much information adds up through ordinary daily activity. The important question becomes: is that information you want to be retained?

5. Check Whether Your Email Has Appeared in a Known Data Breach

Where do you go if you want to check if your email appeared in a data breach? You can go to Have I Been Pwned.

This is an established breach-notification service that lets you check whether you have an email address appearing in a database of known breaches. Finding your email doesn’t always mean someone has access to your accounts, however. But it does mean you should look at the affected services, change the exposed or reused passwords, and if possible, use multifactor authentication.

I know it’s a pain, but it is worth it to protect your accounts.

6. Review the Apps That Have Access to Your Life

Check your phone’s privacy settings and look at which applications have permission to your:

• Location

• Camera and microphone

• Contacts

• Photos

• Bluetooth and nearby devices

Decide for yourself whether an application needs the information it can access to perform its intended function.

7. Request Data Brokers Delete Your Information

This is the final step, and an important development in consumer privacy laws. Check your state’s rules and get a list of data brokers. Some jurisdictions provide rights to access, delete, or restrict certain uses of personal information.

Takeaways

No, you don’t have to disappear from the internet to protect yourself. For most people, eliminating your digital footprint is unrealistic. Modern life includes banking, employment, healthcare, shopping, communication, and many other activities that generate information.

The goal shouldn’t be invisibility. It should be to become more deliberate and aware of what you are doing. Consider making a recurring appointment with yourself to search for exposed personal information. These steps are pretty easy. And always remember this question if you sign up for another “free” service.

What are you getting in exchange for the information you’re providing? Sometimes it’s a reasonable trade, and sometimes it deserves more thought.

Now, as to the reality I faced. The accused spree killer was right. It is that easy for people to get everything they want to know about you from the internet. But he was headed off to prison for… well, forever. So I didn’t worry, much.

Thanks for reading, and I hope this helps you protect yourself.

References: