Some Tips for Removal from WhitePages and Other Websites



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.

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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 media, emails, and any information already available on the internet. While this may seem vague, third-parties routinely collect personal information for a variety of reasons from sources like Facebook and Twitter.

Allowing your personal information to be used for something as innocuous as a personality quiz often, unfortunately, result in your phone number and email being posted publically. This may seem like thorough work for a company to produce personal information for millions of people regularly, but since most of the material is readily available, third-party technology can easily source it without thorough, time-consuming research.

Steps for Removing Information from Whitepages.com
WhitePages posts various bits of personal information, from home addresses to phone numbers, email addresses to occupations. This kind of vulnerability can be uncomfortable or even dangerous for some people and exceptional circumstances. To remove personal information from Google or Yahoo searches, you’ll first need to remove it from White Pages. In the case of WhitePages, there are two types of listings that you may find about yourself: Premium vs. non-premium listings. Here’s how to remove your information from WhitePages:

Premium Listings:
1.   Go to Whitepages.com and search for yourself using your full name, city and state
2.   Right click “View Full Report”, and then copy the link location
4.   Enter your email address, write “Remove My Listing” as the subject and description inside the opt-out form
5.   Paste the link that was copied in step 2
6.   Submit the opt-out form

Non-Premium Listings:
1.   Go to Whitepages.com and search for yourself using your full name, city and state
2.   Right click on “View Details”, and then copy the link location
4.   Paste the link copied in step 2
5.   Click “opt-out”
6.   Click “Remove Me” once the listing appears
7.   Select a reason for removal
8.   Click submit
9.   Enter your phone number, check the box that you affirm you are the person associated with the listing, and click “Call now to verify”
10. You’ll receive an automated call from WhitePages; enter the 4 digit verification code displayed on your screen using your keypad on your phone
          
The Catch to Personally Removing Information
WhitePages is not the only company posting personal information publicly. There are dozens of websites that post and sell information to companies and individuals. It can take hours, if not days, to go through every process to remove or hide this information. And, you often need to create an account with the company using an email address to remove the information at all. Using a service like DeleteMe removes personal information from Google, WhitePages, and any other sites makes your personal information private again without the hassle.

About DeleteMe

DeleteMe by Abine assists people with information removal from Whitepages, Spokeo, Intelius and other websites. This hands-free subscription service allows average people to minimize their online footprint and protect their digital privacy.

For more information, visit Joindeleteme.com

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