Online privacy solutions for 2022
Hackers are better than ever at accessing your personal information. And they sell this data, legally and illegally, at low prices.
In fact, public records sites contain personal information for nearly 90% of U.S. citizens.
Online privacy solutions companies help prevent hackers from finding personal information about you, your business, or your clients. They also can remove this personal information from public websites across the web.
How is my privacy invaded?
Cybercriminals invade online privacy in several ways. The first is through the general openness of the Web. Sites containing personal information are readily accessible. For instance, sites like Been Verified and LexisNexis are popular online databases containing personal information. You might want to consider opting out of such sites to protect your online reputation.
The second is through web transactions, done on online banking and e-commerce sites, that involve sharing sensitive personal information.
Another way is through phishing. Phishing involves fraudulent emails that appear to be from legitimate sites. Criminals use these emails to extract banking passwords, security codes, or other sensitive information.
For example, someone will send an email telling you that your online security has been compromised. The email may include your bank’s logo and appear official. When you click on the link, you are directed to a site much like your bank’s website. Once there, you receive a prompt to enter a new password. That new password provides the phisher access to your accounts.
Sometimes, hackers and phishers sell your personal information to third parties. Identity thieves also use personal information to impersonate you.
And where do they get this information?
From addresses and phone numbers to known relatives and work history, online criminals usually access your info from data brokers on the web.
Why are executives more prone to privacy attacks?
While all individuals are prone to privacy attacks, hackers often target executives aggressively. Why? Because executives tend to have security codes and information that make it easy to hack into the company’s IT system.
And once they’re in, criminals can access the personal information of any employees and clients stored within the corporate IT system.
What are common privacy threats?
Common threats include:
- Phishing (or emails designed to fool you).
- IP address identification, which hackers use to track your online behavior.
- Viruses (like Trojan horses) that send information back to the attacker. Users often place these on their devices after downloading free software. If you download a Trojan horse, your personal information is up for grabs.
- Screen-scraping. This tactic parses webpage content with programs that recognize personal email addresses and other personal content to steal this information.
- Web beacons, which monitor your behavior when you visit websites or send emails.
- User-authorized information collection. Users often provide information to help make an e-commerce experience easier and quicker. But sometimes people mine this data and violate their privacy. The data collector also may sell this information.
What causes privacy problems on the web?
Internet users generate more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of data daily, according to ASIS magazine. This information often is used for worthwhile purposes. But if it gets into the wrong hands, it violates user privacy.
Individuals can access a user’s personal information from background checks and other websites, often for as little as $10.
How do online privacy solutions companies remove data?
A trusted online privacy solution company like InternetPrivacy.com scans the web for mentions of your data. Then, the company uses a proven process to remove personal data from as many sites as possible. This process removes data from some sites within days, though it may take longer for others.
Once removed, The company then provides a progress report to let you know which sites still are in progress.
More than 70 sites contain your personal information. Some of these include:
- LexisNexis
- Advanced Background
- Criminal Audit
- People Lookup
- Zoominfo
- Peoplesearch
- Spoke
- Background File Check
- Spokeo
- PiPL
- Intellius
- PeopleSearches
- Jail Alert
- Been Verified
- Yellow Pages
What Information Should Be Removed from the Internet?
All private information should be removed that is readily accessible on the Internet. This includes:
- Current and former addresses
- Phone numbers
- Family member’s names
- Photos from social media
- Former places of employment
- Personal email
- Other information about personal ties
- Criminal records and civil judgments
An experienced online privacy solutions team scans the internet for sites that contain this information.
Removing information such as addresses and names of family members is critical for several reasons:
- Banks and credit card companies often use a mother’s maiden name or father’s middle name as a verification check. If someone obtains this information, they can use this info to access these accounts.
- Stalkers or unhappy former employees can use address and family information to follow and threaten your family.
While online privacy solutions companies can’t expunge or seal your criminal records, they can remove this information from most background check websites.
Additionally, these companies don’t provide identity theft monitoring. But they can prevent identity thieves from obtaining information used to steal your identity or find out where you work.
How Do Online Solutions Companies Help Me Make Sure The Information Doesn’t Reappear?
Online privacy solutions companies monitor websites to make sure personal information doesn’t reappear. They provide ongoing reports and alerts of new sites.
What’s more: good online privacy firms provide personal help to answer questions. These personal advisers help teach ways to avoid information theft.
Finally, these companies can help lessen the amount of spam and junk mail in your inbox. Not only does this end this nuisance, it also reduces future risks to your privacy and personal info.
How Do Firewalls and Online Gateways Help With Privacy?
Firewalls allow only specific types of traffic through systems. Messages that do not meet the criteria of the firewall are blocked. Some e-commerce and other companies install firewalls to help protect user’s personal information. Online gateways, such as Paypal and Authorize.net, typically invest in software that make e-commerce transactions more secure.
We Can Help Protect Your Personal Data
Statistics show that 64 percent of Americans have experienced a data breach. About 15 percent have received notices that their Social Security number has been compromised, and a similar number report that someone has tried to take out credit in their time.
We can help you avoid being a statistic. InternetPrivacy.com has decades of experience helping clients protect personal information.
We protect your data in three important ways:
First, our Active Internet Privacy Protection cuts off many of the sources that hackers use to obtain your private information. And once this flow is cut off, they can neither receive your information nor sell it.
Secondly, we remove that info from the Internet. We use advanced tools to identify sites that contain that personal information so we can remove it fast.
Finally, we provide follow-up care through ongoing surveillance. We also provide a personal concierge to answer questions.
For a free, discreet consultation, contact us at 866-349-0130 now.
