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How much is someone’s privacy worth? In some cases, it is literally worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The New York Times reported in February 2018 that a woman in New Hampshire had won a $560 million Powerball jackpot. However, lottery officials would not give her the money because she wished to keep her identity anonymous. That might seem excessively cautious at first, but consider this: Even without giving her name away, the woman—known only as “Jane Doe”—got flooded with offers from people saying they would claim the winnings on her behalf (for a price, of course). Imagine how many vultures and nuts would come out if her name were made public!   From unwanted marketing messages to identity thieves, average citizens face their own struggles regarding personal information on the internet. Here are some ways that people can protect their privacy and good names online, including listing removal from Whitepages and other sites. Remove Personal Info ...

Some might find all the talk about people wanting to remove personal information from Google and other websites just a little hysterical. Here are some thoughts on why online privacy is so critical right now. Privacy and Behavior Some people might say to themselves, “Hey, privacy is not that big a deal. What do I have to hide? And as for all that marketing junk, I’m not an idiot. I just don’t pay any attention to that stuff.” First of all, it is important to note that the fight over privacy (both online and offline) is not about having “something to hide.” In other words, it is not about having the license to do bad things. It is about having the freedom to do good things. It is about having the ability to live our lives with a reasonable level of security, dignity and autonomy. When a person has privacy, they can have the comfort and confidence needed to be themselves. They can do anything from dancing and singing along to Abba to writing a treatise on world...

After hundreds of millions of people were affected by the Cambridge Analytica data fiasco, many find that their personal information is no longer private. Unlike the physical phone books of the past, WhitePages and other websites like Spokeo and Intelius collect personal information available on the internet without permission. Some websites even sell this information to individuals and companies who want phone numbers, email addresses, or physical addresses. Because the information is technically public, this creates a complicated and confusing situation. How are they gathering this information? Is information removal from WhitePages possible without deleting social media accounts? Who is looking at your private information without your knowledge or control? How Does Whitepages.com Gather Information? Phone and utility companies are a source for WhitePages to retrieve contact information attached to personal addresses and phone numbers. Other sources include social...

Is there an easy way to remove personal information from Google ? A lot of people have been asking this question lately. It is hard to fault anyone for being concerned about their online privacy—as the recent controversy surrounding Facebook and Cambridge Analytica has made clear, a lot of people are vulnerable to having their information and online activity monitored and collected. That information can then be used in potentially harmful ways. The main parties that do this collecting are called data brokers. These are companies that gather up information on consumers—this could include addresses, income levels and web pages they visit—and sell it off to others. Generally speaking, there are three kinds of data brokers: 1) People Search Websites These are sites where someone can search a person’s name, phone number or email address and receive more details on that person. These sites could be free or charge a small fee. Examples of people search sites in...