John clearly remembers painstakingly completing numerous opt-out requests, fielding countless emails, texts, calls, and faxes to verify his identity, and fought tooth and nail to get his private records removed. He even went the extra mile and had Google’s search indexing modified. Yet somehow, all his private details are once again posted publicly online for all to see!
How could this happen? Sadly, it’s not a mistake or sorcerer’s trickery. Data brokers generally honor removal requests, but they also feed a consistent flow of new information back into their databases. And since most of these websites don’t cross reference past opt-out requests, your removed profile can reappear on the same website within days or weeks of the original removal.
So, now what? Does John have any recourse? Sure, all he has to do is repeat the whole process and try to get his records removed all over again. It’s a vicious, never ending cycle that’s sure to consume all of John’s valuable time.
In order for John to maintain his ongoing privacy indefinitely, he’ll have to keep monitoring people-search sites regularly in order to see if his private records are being relisted. To help with this, John sets up a repeating event on his calendar reminding him to recheck all these people-search sites for his name and personal information. It’s a daunting task for one person to take on alone.