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Off topic, but recently I've been devastated to learn that every single address I (a US resident) ever lived at, my roommates, even my month and year of birth a

Off topic, but recently I've been devastated to learn that every single address I (a US resident) ever lived at, my roommates, even my month and year of birth are available on sites like spokeo and fastpeoplesearch. I just don't know where this info is coming from and I want to stop it. Maybe the Equifax breach?

jcomis 6y ago
It comes from a lot of places. Voter records is actually a big source, but also I believe some of the various breaches have made it in. And all of those sites continuously crawl each other and trade databases as well. I had my identity stolen and after a lot of research I determined they were able to gather the info from all of these public sources. I have been trying to scrub myself from them for 3 years now. It's like playing whack-a-mole. Some are quick to delete, only to pop right back up again months later. Some just don't respond. Some require physical mailed requests. A few are openly hostile. You need to submit forms with google to get search results cache updated for each page. You also need to clear "associates" such as spouse, parents, children because your info appears on their profiles as well. Tedious process! I believe the best defense is to have a common name or create a ton of spoof info to confuse them.
- quercusa 6y ago
  Ouch. Could you say a little more about the scrubbing process: Where to start, how to do it? Thanks.
  - jcomis 6y ago
    Lots of googling your own name and email address. Finding all the hits and searching for "remove" or "opt out" links (search "sitename+opt out" etc). Repeating the process for close associates, phone number, address. Then closely monitor. Submit search results cache removal as soon as it changes (https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/removals https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/removals). I've found it's best to do one giant wave of removals to avoid propagating from one site to another.
  - coffeemaniac 6y ago
    You need to go to each of these sites individually and request an "opt-out". (This is superior to a complete deletion of your data which some offer, because an opt out allows them to keep your name on a "do not share" list.) You can hire services which will do this like deleteme, privacyduck, or onerep. What most people do is spend lots of time researching these services to decide which is worth the price. I'd recommend looking at the "which sites do we cover?" sections of each service, and go to each site yourself to submit the opt-out. Most of these sites have a paid tier -- don't fall for it, the opt-out process will provide you a form in most cases which will allow you to see whether or not your info is in their records. Keep a spreadsheet, and go back to them on some timeline, or alternately hire one of the aforementioned services afterwards. Focus on the major data brokers first: Acxiom, Experian, Epsilon, CoreLogic, Datalogix, Intelius, PeekYou, Exactis, and Recorded Future. Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions.
  - atomicfiredoll 6y ago
    I've seen this posted in a few places now. It lists out several of these sites with information about how to opt-out. Results may vary. https://github.com/yaelwrites/Big-Ass-Data-Broker-Opt-Out-List https://github.com/yaelwrites/Big-Ass-Data-Broker-Opt-Out-Li...
- ardy42 6y ago
  > It comes from a lot of places. Voter records is actually a big source, but also I believe some of the various breaches have made it in. And all of those sites continuously crawl each other and trade databases as well. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of it comes from customer lists (either sold directly by the collecting company for a little extra profit or bought in bankruptcy/liquidation proceedings).
  - jcomis 6y ago
    Wouldn't be surprised. I think a lot of the original data also comes from whitepages.
novaRom 6y ago
I think many agents are in place since many years tracking everyone, accumulating information leaked from different breaches. I believe it is widespread today at least in several countries their intelligence really have a kind of "global human database" where everyone is tracked and all digital traces are carefully collected and can be used at appropriate moments for different interventions (like elections, policy change, trade agreements, etc.)
stateofnounion 6y ago
Why do you think it's due to a breach? There are thousands of companies who sell and re-sell that kind of information.
Chirael 6y ago
You can opt out, but it's a grueling, site-by-site process and they don't make it easy - often you have to do it several times. See https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html for some strategies. It's tortuous and should not be this way - we should really have national privacy legislation, but all the companies who are based on (or just get extra profit from) surveillance capitalism will fight such a thing tooth and nail.
- ardy42 6y ago
  > You can opt out, but it's a grueling, site-by-site process and they don't make it easy - often you have to do it several times. See https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html for some strategies. It's tortuous and should not be this way I totally agree with you about how unreasonably burdensome the process is (it probably took at least a solid 40 hours of effort for me to get my results mostly scrubbed from publicly accessible sites a few years ago). However, I think you have to put an asterisk next to "opt-out." In a lot of cases, your data might still be accessible in premium or specialized products (like those for law enforcement). I know of no law besides the California-specific CCPA that actually regulates opting-out, and a lot of these sites like like they're operated by sketchy people.
  - coffeemaniac 6y ago
    You're correct, but you're understating law enforcement's capabilities. They have access to all sorts of databases which you don't have access to "opt-out" from, if that makes sense, and many of which are illegal to provide misleading info to. (You can't put "John Doe" or a fake address on your drivers license, for example). I'd focus on the public data brokers and being much more careful about where you divulge your personal info.
kevin_thibedeau 6y ago
USPS sends out address change info that you submit to them. Just like junk mail, this is a profit center so they won't stop doing it.
- mehrdadn 6y ago
  Do you know if there's a way to request address change without having them advertise it?
  - sul_tasto 6y ago
    request a ‘temporary’ change of address. i think it can last up to 6 months, but can also be renewed.
    - mehrdadn 6y ago
      Thanks!
foxdev 6y ago
This stuff was always public information. These sites collected it and charged to access it in detail. They basically replaced people who did this professionally. Gumshoe as a service.

jcomis 6y ago

It comes from a lot of places. Voter records is actually a big source, but also I believe some of the various breaches have made it in. And all of those sites continuously crawl each other and trade databases as well. I had my identity stolen and after a lot of research I determined they were able to gather the info from all of these public sources. I have been trying to scrub myself from them for 3 years now. It's like playing whack-a-mole. Some are quick to delete, only to pop right back up again months later. Some just don't respond. Some require physical mailed requests. A few are openly hostile. You need to submit forms with google to get search results cache updated for each page. You also need to clear "associates" such as spouse, parents, children because your info appears on their profiles as well. Tedious process! I believe the best defense is to have a common name or create a ton of spoof info to confuse them.

quercusa 6y ago
Ouch. Could you say a little more about the scrubbing process: Where to start, how to do it? Thanks.
- jcomis 6y ago
  Lots of googling your own name and email address. Finding all the hits and searching for "remove" or "opt out" links (search "sitename+opt out" etc). Repeating the process for close associates, phone number, address. Then closely monitor. Submit search results cache removal as soon as it changes (https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/removals https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/removals). I've found it's best to do one giant wave of removals to avoid propagating from one site to another.
- coffeemaniac 6y ago
  You need to go to each of these sites individually and request an "opt-out". (This is superior to a complete deletion of your data which some offer, because an opt out allows them to keep your name on a "do not share" list.) You can hire services which will do this like deleteme, privacyduck, or onerep. What most people do is spend lots of time researching these services to decide which is worth the price. I'd recommend looking at the "which sites do we cover?" sections of each service, and go to each site yourself to submit the opt-out. Most of these sites have a paid tier -- don't fall for it, the opt-out process will provide you a form in most cases which will allow you to see whether or not your info is in their records. Keep a spreadsheet, and go back to them on some timeline, or alternately hire one of the aforementioned services afterwards. Focus on the major data brokers first: Acxiom, Experian, Epsilon, CoreLogic, Datalogix, Intelius, PeekYou, Exactis, and Recorded Future. Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions.
- atomicfiredoll 6y ago
  I've seen this posted in a few places now. It lists out several of these sites with information about how to opt-out. Results may vary. https://github.com/yaelwrites/Big-Ass-Data-Broker-Opt-Out-List https://github.com/yaelwrites/Big-Ass-Data-Broker-Opt-Out-Li...
ardy42 6y ago
> It comes from a lot of places. Voter records is actually a big source, but also I believe some of the various breaches have made it in. And all of those sites continuously crawl each other and trade databases as well. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of it comes from customer lists (either sold directly by the collecting company for a little extra profit or bought in bankruptcy/liquidation proceedings).
- jcomis 6y ago
  Wouldn't be surprised. I think a lot of the original data also comes from whitepages.

novaRom 6y ago

I think many agents are in place since many years tracking everyone, accumulating information leaked from different breaches. I believe it is widespread today at least in several countries their intelligence really have a kind of "global human database" where everyone is tracked and all digital traces are carefully collected and can be used at appropriate moments for different interventions (like elections, policy change, trade agreements, etc.)

stateofnounion 6y ago

Why do you think it's due to a breach? There are thousands of companies who sell and re-sell that kind of information.

Chirael 6y ago

You can opt out, but it's a grueling, site-by-site process and they don't make it easy - often you have to do it several times. See https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html for some strategies. It's tortuous and should not be this way - we should really have national privacy legislation, but all the companies who are based on (or just get extra profit from) surveillance capitalism will fight such a thing tooth and nail.

ardy42 6y ago
> You can opt out, but it's a grueling, site-by-site process and they don't make it easy - often you have to do it several times. See https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html https://inteltechniques.com/book7.html for some strategies. It's tortuous and should not be this way I totally agree with you about how unreasonably burdensome the process is (it probably took at least a solid 40 hours of effort for me to get my results mostly scrubbed from publicly accessible sites a few years ago). However, I think you have to put an asterisk next to "opt-out." In a lot of cases, your data might still be accessible in premium or specialized products (like those for law enforcement). I know of no law besides the California-specific CCPA that actually regulates opting-out, and a lot of these sites like like they're operated by sketchy people.
- coffeemaniac 6y ago
  You're correct, but you're understating law enforcement's capabilities. They have access to all sorts of databases which you don't have access to "opt-out" from, if that makes sense, and many of which are illegal to provide misleading info to. (You can't put "John Doe" or a fake address on your drivers license, for example). I'd focus on the public data brokers and being much more careful about where you divulge your personal info.

kevin_thibedeau 6y ago

USPS sends out address change info that you submit to them. Just like junk mail, this is a profit center so they won't stop doing it.

mehrdadn 6y ago
Do you know if there's a way to request address change without having them advertise it?
- sul_tasto 6y ago
  request a ‘temporary’ change of address. i think it can last up to 6 months, but can also be renewed.
  - mehrdadn 6y ago
    Thanks!

foxdev 6y ago

This stuff was always public information. These sites collected it and charged to access it in detail. They basically replaced people who did this professionally. Gumshoe as a service.