Why data removal services are vital to maintain privacy amid rising cyber crime

The market for personal data is an increasingly complex business where all manner of details can be traded, leaving people more vulnerable to fraud¹.

Online fraud, including identity theft, accounts for a significant – and growing – percentage of all crime. Action Fraud estimates that 80% of all fraud in the UK² is now “cyber enabled”, and committed partially, or entirely, online.

Increasingly, cyber criminals use online data about individuals. OFCOM, the UK’s communications regulator, found that 51% of victims experienced impersonation fraud, or identity theft. A further 37% were targeted by computer software service or ransomware attacks.

Online fraud is being fuelled by data breaches, which expose sensitive personal information, information users share on social media.

Meanwhile, there is the trade in personal data that is equally concerning. Data brokers can build up incredibly accurate profiles of individuals, by piecing together data from multiple sources, including social media accounts. This poses a number of risks. Data brokers might be breached themselves, or they might be less than scrupulous about who they sell information to.

And the more data third parties hold, the greater the risk if it falls into the wrong hands: this includes information such as dates of birth, social security numbers, career history and even hobbies.

No-one wants to be the victim of fraud or other online crime. And security professionals have even stronger incentives to limit who can access their personal data.

CISOs and other senior cybersecurity executives make tempting targets for crime groups, whether it is through phishing and “spear phishing”, ransomware, business email compromises or even financial fraud.

Unfortunately, taking control of personal data on the net can be complex and time consuming. Legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation controls how organisations gather and process data, and gives citizens the right to see their records, and request their correction or even removal – known as “the right to be forgotten”.

But the sheer number of data brokers, social media outlets and other web services that hold personal data is vast. Nor is the only risk from current data. Even if a website removes someone’s information from an online service, archive sites such as the Wayback Machine keep old versions of websites. These can, of course, also be accessed by fraudsters.

All legitimate websites and social media services have facilities for users to check their data and if needed, to remove it. This is a fairly straightforward process for services such as Google, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Legitimate data brokers, including the main credit reference agencies, also have straightforward processes for removing data.

Experts recommend that individuals start with an online search to identify their digital footprint. In the US, Google has a “results about you” tool, which is set to be rolled out internationally soon.

But for most internet users, especially professionals who have been online for a number of years, the number of sites out there makes manually removing personal data impractical. Instead, it can pay to use the services of a reputable data removal service, to reduce your online presence, and to monitor it.

Key steps to secure your online presence:

• Check privacy settings on social media sites
• Remove your information from Google search results
• Close down unused accounts, and delete unused smartphone apps
• Check browser privacy settings, and consider using a VPN
• Carry out regular checks of your digital footprint or use a good data removal service.

Incogni is a personal data removal service that scrubs your personal information from the web – giving you peace of mind from the many ways data can be compromised.

It contacts and follows up with data brokers all over the world on your behalf: a process that would take an individual hundreds of hours.

Incogni also helps to remove your personal information from all broker types, including people search sites.

Review and manage your digital footprint using Incogni now.

^{[1] Wired, 6 Ways to Delete Yourself From the Internet, https://www.wired.co.uk/article/delete-yourself-from-internet, January 2022}

^{[2] Action Fraud, https://data.actionfraud.police.uk/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2020-21-Annual-Assessment-Fraud-Crime-Trends.pdf, July 2021}