Search your own name with your town added. For most people something comes back that they never agreed to publish. A home address. An age. Relatives' names. A previous address. Sometimes an estimated income.
Companies you've never heard of built that entry by scraping public records, social profiles and commercial databases, and they will sell it to anyone with a card. That's the uncomfortable part: it isn't hidden, and it isn't expensive.
Most of it can be taken down. Very few people do it, because the process is tedious and the opt-out forms are buried on purpose. This course does the finding and the wording for you.
What you get
The Decision Matrix. Five minutes to map what's publicly available about you and, more usefully, which of those exposures carry real-world risk rather than just feeling unpleasant.
Seven Clarity Scripts. Word for word how to request removal from a data broker, opt out of a people-search site, lock down a social profile, and what to send when a removal request is ignored, which happens more often than it should.
The 60-Minute Plan. Search for yourself properly, submit the highest-priority removals first, and set up alerts so you find out if any of it comes back.
Six self-tests. Including a live search you run yourself to confirm the removals actually landed, rather than trusting a confirmation email.
What the guide covers
- Data brokers, where they get your information and which ones are worth your time first
- People-search sites, how to find your listings and get them pulled
- Social media exposure, which settings leak the most to people who aren't your friends
- Google results, what you can ask to have removed and how to ask
- Old accounts, how to find and close the ones you've forgotten you opened
- Ongoing monitoring, free tools that tell you when your data resurfaces
This is for you if
- You've googled yourself and didn't like what came back
- You've had calls or post that felt too specific to be a coincidence
- You aren't sure what your social profiles show to strangers
- You've never made a data removal request and wouldn't know how to word one
- You want the loop closed rather than left half done
By the last page
You'll have found your most significant exposures, submitted removals to the brokers that actually matter, and put something in place to catch new listings before they pile up again. That completes the Privacy Foundations set.
Course details
- Format: downloadable PDF
- Time to complete: about 60 minutes
- Series: Course 05 of 20, GhostNet Cyber Fundamentals
- Track: Track A, Privacy Foundations (Courses 01 to 05), track finale
- Prerequisites: none, works standalone and completes Track A
- Works on: any device, any operating system
- Level: complete beginner, no technical background needed
Buy with confidence
Every course comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If it isn't useful, email us within 30 days and we'll refund you in full. You don't need to give a reason.
Where to go next
Course 06, Phishing and Scam Recognition 101, opens Track B and moves from protecting your information to spotting the people who come after it. Or take Privacy Foundations, the five-course bundle covering Courses 01 to 05, for £50 instead of £150.
