5 Options for Managing Online Personal Information

Personal information is just that – personal. However, in an ever-changing online world, many people don’t have as much control over their personal information. You might not even know that much of your personal information is available online. Here are five things you can do to make your personal information online less available.

1. See How Much Personal Information Is Currently Available

The first step for managing the information that you have available online is simply to know what’s already available online. You can do this through services that provide this type of service, like a public record search engine, or just by searching using your name, phone number, email address, or other identifying characteristic.

2. Invest in Identity Fraud Services

Identity fraud services can regularly scan areas like the dark web, letting you know if your identifying information has shown up in any of them. If they have, these services can give you next steps, making it easier for you to avoid identity theft. Plus, many of them have some amount of monetary protection against identity theft.

3. Change Social Media Privacy Settings If Applicable

Social media is one of the easiest places to find information about you as a person. If you’re interested in keeping your personal information private, you need to start with one of the simplest options: beefing up your social media privacy settings. If you have social media accounts that are anything other than completely private, chances are there’s some information out there that you would rather keep a bit private.

4. See What Legal Protections You Have

In some areas, you may have legal protections that you don’t have in other areas. For example, consumers in the EU are guarded by the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which gives residents additional data privacy protection; California consumers are protected by the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA. Legal protections in your area may give you more rights for data erasure.

5. Remind Yourself to Check and Re-Check on an Ongoing Basis

Just because you don’t have a lot of your personal data on the internet right now doesn’t mean it’ll be that way forever. Understanding how to keep your personal data off the internet is an ever-changing thing, and that means you’ll never truly be “done” with the process of safeguarding your personal information. It’s something you’ll likely need to remind yourself to do over and over again, and checking every few months is a great way to familiarize yourself with the process and keep your private information private.

Conclusion

Managing the spread of online personal information is something many people have to deal with on a regular basis. If you have any social media profiles, chances are that you’ve dealt with spreading online personal information. The best thing you can do is use these five tips to keep your personal information as personal as possible. The more you think about your online personal information, the better off you’ll be.