We are going to focus on how to remove yourself from True People Search. We’ll also share a generic template for how you can opt out of other data broker sites and get to work on owning your external data privacy.
Please see the bottom of the article if you wish to get straight to the directions on removing yourself from True People Search. However, we kindly recommend that you read through this article in its entirety.
Why?
The exponential rise of data leaks
Since 2004, the average American has been in 7 data breaches.
Take the time to read that again.
All things being equal, you’ve probably had your data breached seven times. According to SurfShark, 8.7 billion American data points (e.g., names, passwords, usernames, IPs, and other sensitive data) have been sold or leaked since ’04.
In short, deleting yourself from one people search site likely won’t do you much good if your data has been exposed elsewhere (which you can find out for free here).
Why an external data search is necessary
First, you must understand that True People Search is just the tip of the People Search and data broker iceberg. Did you know that hackers and data brokers can easily find your personal details, including your contact information?
Besides scrounging this data from your social media profiles, search engines (*cough* Google! *cough*) will indiscriminately direct these people to where they can find your:
– email address
– phone numbers
– home address
– employer information
– even your social security number, criminal records (if any), government records, credit report, and other sensitive data.
Second, besides arming you with the knowledge of how to get this breach of privacy out of your life, our goal at Privacy Bee is to raise privacy awareness. We try to demonstrate this commitment by offering more free external data privacy services than any other data privacy company.
These include:
- A free external data privacy scan
- A free Privacy Risk Score
- Free 24/7 data broker monitoring
- A free data privacy dashboard
Perform a 100% free scan by going here.
A big part of our external data privacy efforts is educating readers on the dangers of data brokers and their ugly stepchildren; People Search Sites.
What is True People Search?
At the very least, True People Search is honest about its ambitions. Per the company’s ‘About Us’ page, its mission is to: “Create the most powerful people search service in the world and give it away for free.”
Predictably, these aspirations have led to an aggregation of private personal information—and its subsequent misuse.
In short, TPS is a leading data broker under the umbrella of “People Finders.” It is the business of People Finders to do precisely that: find you—then sell what they find.
Using freely-available software, TPS uses a method of data extraction called web scraping to “crawl” millions of public records webpages to pull contact metadata. These data are then cleaned, packaged, and sold as a digital product to any one of countless businesses hungry for leads.
What data will I find on True People Search?
The other day I Googled myself, which I do monthly to manage my personal brand, and to my surprise, I saw my age, my current address, all of my past addresses, the names of my family members, and my emails and phone number listed publicly on TruePeopleSearch.”
~ Stefanie Marrone, Owner of The Social Media Butterfly Blog
The above quote (from a young woman kind enough to let us quote her for this article) says it all. The sheer amount of information you can find on TPS is mindboggling.
Besides hoarding all of this data on you and yours, TPS one-ups itself and links to an optional (paid) full background report. Now, the likelihood of someone paying for a full background report on you is slim, but why risk it?
Let us now discuss why you should remove yourself from True People Search.
Why you should remove yourself from True People Search
You should remove yourself from the databases of TPS and other data brokers for several reasons.
#1 Personal Safety
The first and most important reason you should delete yourself from TPS is for your safety. We live in an increasingly global world where one can find information on just about anyone, given minimal intelligence and the right resources.
True People Search may contain location data such as your physical address, making it possible for anyone with less-than-friendly intentions to find you.
In short, an external data privacy service that deletes your contact information is critical for ensuring personal safety.
#2 Financial Security
In the past five years, the United States has witnessed a drastic rise in the number of cybercrimes—and this includes identity theft and its unfortunate byproducts. Per an FTC report, fraud complaints have more than doubled since 2017, while identity theft complaints have nearly quadrupled.
The cost of these crimes is also rising exponentially. Per the FTC, associated financial costs have increased to over $6 billion—a 77% increase over 2020.
#3 Spam Defense
Telemarketers and spammers have to get your address, email, and phone number from somewhere—and a People Finder is too often the supplier. Junk mail and telemarketing calls exist only because of public information.
Unfortunately, the dissemination and discovery of this public information have only been exacerbated since the rise of data brokers.
Besides scrubbing your external data from data brokers, we’ll also opt you out of junk mail lists.
How to remove yourself from True People Search
If you are reading these words, it’s highly likely that your data is on True People Search. If uncertain, you can check if your data is on TPS by doing a simple Google Search with your name and “Total People Search.” For example, Tom Jones + “True People Search.”
We are going to show you two ways that you can remove your information from True People Search:
- Let Privacy Bee do it for you (recommended).
- Follow a manual opt-out process (please scroll to ‘Option 2’)
Option 1: Let Privacy Bee do it for you (recommended)
You can kill 350+ birds with one stone and have Privacy Bee check your information against this number of data brokers, the most in the industry—all for free here. Moreover, we will monitor your information for free, 24/7.
In addition to scanning for your personal information with our industry-leading, best-in-class technology, Privacy Bee privacy experts will handle the removal process for you.
Moreover, it is only by conducting a thorough risk assessment that one may discover if they have:
— Been in a data breach (Over 70% have)
— Had the following data exposed: passwords, aliases, date of birth (DOB), email addresses, usernames, home addresses, family member data, phone numbers, banking details, internet history, and other private data (including PII)
Check if you’ve been in a data breach for free here.
Option 2: Follow a manual opt-out process
Please follow these steps to request the deletion of your private data from True People Search:
1. Go to the following website: www.truepeoplesearch.com/removal
2. Enter your email address
3. Check the “Terms and Conditions” acknowledgment
4. Complete the CAPTCHA, if required
5. Click “Begin Removal”
6. In the name search box: Enter your first name, last name, city, and state. Click the search icon.
7. Click on “Remove This Record”
About Privacy Bee
“We believe everyone deserves their privacy, especially online. Privacy should not be contested, bartered, nor political, but rather a basic human right.”
Privacy Bee’s Mission Statement (Excerpt)
As mentioned at the beginning, Privacy Bee is an external data removal company. But we are so much more. We’re external data privacy advocates and darn proud of it.
The truth is that many of us at Privacy Bee didn’t start out as external data privacy advocates. But after hearing of the manipulation of trust by greed-driven data brokers, supposedly-reputable companies, and their kind, it’s hard to go back. Not to mention some of the disturbing stories we hear from can individuals whose violation of the right to privacy has adversely affected their lives, sometimes tragically.
The good news is that we can help you take back control of your personal data.
It all starts by performing a completely free privacy evaluation here.
