Personal Information Removal Guide

In the wake of a new campaign, or viral moment on the internet, activists can be uniquely vulnerable. Your personal information– your legal name, address, phone number, email, and even social media handles– are collected by consumer marketing firms and just a Google search away from bad actors using that information to harass you.

Peoplesearch Engine Removal

However, you can preemptively remove your data from peoplesearch databases. While it can seem daunting, every website from which you remove your personal information lowers your chances of having that information used to harass you.

To check for your exposure, try searching for your legal name, along with the city in which you live. Then try your name with your street. (Use DuckDuckGo, so that Google does not track your search and start suggesting your residence address as an autofill for your name.)

You can either remove the information yourself, or pay for a professional service like DeleteMe ($129/year as of June 2022). While not practically difficult, this can be emotionally stressful work that can be easier to perform with a friend or small group of trusted activists.

Michael Bazzell has compiled a free and comprehensive list of peoplesearch engines, with step-by-step instructions for each. The workbook is available in both PDF and HTML formats, so you can print it out, or work from the list online.

The workbook is 32 pages, with six peoplesearch engines per page. If you spend 15-20 minutes per day, it should take you about a month to complete, or 8-10 hours total.

VOIP Numbers

If you’re an organizer, you’re probably regularly in contact with people you don’t know well, via a variety of services. If you have to give your number out– for example, in a press release or even a Signal thread– consider using a VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) number not linked to your real name by a peoplesearch engine, so that you don’t have to change your number should you start receiving harassment.

Google Voice is a free option that will work for this purpose. As of January 2022, MySudo offers a two-week free trial of their app that will also work for this purpose. After that, plans start at 99 cents/month for three email addresses and one phone number, with up to 30 minutes of talk time and 100 text messages with non-MySudo users. Three phone numbers with 200 minutes and 300 text messages/month is $4.99/month.