How to Delete Your Information From People-Search Sites
It amazes me that Medicare is such a highly regulated industry with HIPPA requirements and protecting a Medicare eligible person information, including permission to contact forms and Scope of Appointment forms. BUT go online (and search your own name) and (most likely) all your personal information exists for everyone to see.
To make matters worse … “Data brokers are highly unregulated,” says Maureen Mahoney, a policy analyst at Consumer Reports. “There is no federal law that gives consumers the right to exercise their privacy preferences with respect to these sites. It’s all very opaque and confusing.”
What is a “Data Broker?” Data brokers are companies selling personal information about you. Data brokers collect information from various sources to build up a detailed picture of who you are and then sell it
Who sells the most data? Social media collects more data than anybody else. Ads are how Facebook makes the most of its money — around $16.6 billion to be precise, based on 2018 reports — so the more it knows about you, the more it can sell on.
“People-search sites may have even more data than what you see on the first page of your search results. These sites scour through public records, commercial sources, and social media to accumulate a dizzying amount of information about people. It can include past and present addresses, any criminal records or bankruptcies, and even where your relatives live.” … per the attached article.
