It’s never been easier for spammers and scammers to get hold of your information, and this is particularly dangerous at tax time.
With data brokers offering easy access to your phone number, email address, home address — and even sensitive information like your social security number — tax time can be peak time for theft. Fortunately, there is an easy way to reduce the risk.
A simple name search can reveal a surprising amount of your data. This may include your address, telephone number, age, occupation and family contacts. This is the type of data that criminals use to commit identity theft and other types of fraud.
No wonder all this information is available everywhere. It is systematically purchased and aggregated by data vendors who make it available to marketers and third parties.
Despite some talk of legislators or regulators intervening, the sale of data is still a legitimate business, taking advantage of the small print we regularly agree to when registering to use a website or purchasing a device. Deliberately vague terms like “sharing data with partners” are code for selling it to data vendors who will sell it to others.
Even strong device privacy like Apple isn’t enough to protect you: your digital footprint extends beyond individual devices and the Apple ecosystem.
The law does not allow you to opt out, but identifying all the companies that hold your data, and submitting requests for removal, is a very difficult task. Even if you can successfully track everything out there, vendors often add personal information to their databases, and new vendor websites appear all the time.
Fortunately, there is a very simple solution.
Incogni data deletion service
Instead of contacting hundreds of different companies, jumping through whatever hoops they put in your way, you can outsource data removal work to Incogni.
The company behind Surfshark does the hard work for you, contacting over 250 data brokers and search engines on your behalf, and submitting requests to have all of your data removed. Regardless of whether you reside in the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, or Switzerland, Incogni will apply the applicable laws of each country when providing notices.
The company also continuously checks for new uploads of your data and provides new download notifications. It even automates the appeals process when companies say they have a legitimate reason to keep your data.
Save 58% for 9to5Mac readers
9to5Mac readers can save their data from the marketplace with a 1-year subscription at a 58% discount on individual and family plans. Users can choose to add up to four loved ones to their Family & Friends plan. Users can add up to three phone numbers (US customers only), three emails, and three physical addresses.
The deal includes Incogni’s unlimited plan, which the company believes is game-changing in the world of data removal services. In addition to common data brokers and access sites, unlimited subscribers can request to be removed. any website that exposes their personal information (except social media platforms, government records, blogs and forums) – and independent privacy agents will take care of the rest.
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