I Tested 10+ Best Data Removal Tools — Here Are My Favorites (December 2024)

It starts with freezing your Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion credit accounts. This is a free service that is available through all three credit bureaus. This can be done online with no cost but does need to be done for each credit bureau separately. The disadvantage to freezing is that you will not be able to apply for any new credit cards or loans without going back and unfreezing the accounts. 

A first step would be a two-fold intervention to freeze your credit by contacting your credit agencies to put a hold on establishing new credit cards. This is often the actual target of personal data theft. Then spend 5 minutes to file a complaint of personal data theft with the Federal Trade Commission and/or Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The credit freeze protects you from further financial damage; the complaints assist in both documenting the problem and providing the necessary paperwork to ensure that if something bad is done with your data that your liability for that is more limited.

It's wise to take two precautionary steps even before a compromise occurs. First, sign up for annual credit reports to monitor your financial activity regularly. Second, consider putting a credit freeze on the major credit bureaus, which can help prevent new accounts from being opened in your name.

If your data is compromised, consider enrolling in credit monitoring services — sometimes provided for free by the company responsible for the breach. Watch your credit card statements and bank accounts closely for any suspicious activity. Also, change the password on the compromised account and update it for any other accounts using the same password to keep your accounts secure.

There are a few things you can do, and some things you can't do much about. The most important thing to do is to change your passwords for any service that's been compromised, and to choose strong passwords for all of your other services. I cannot recommend a password manager highly enough. Apple has one built into all of their phones and computers, and it's really excellent. 1Password also works well, in my experience. Let the password manager pick strong passwords for all your services, don't bother to memorize them yourselves, and reset any passwords on compromised services as quickly as possible. Never ever share a password between two different services.

Unfortunately, when it comes to lost social security numbers and personal data, there's not very much you can do. Passwords can be changed, but it's hard to change a SSN or your birthdate. There are credit monitoring services that can help a bit, but my experience is that a lot of this data has already been stolen — so probably yours is already out there if someone wants it badly enough.

Freeze as many accounts as you can and change all account numbers, PINs, and passwords. Accounts that can be frozen include your credit files with the three credit reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax, and Transunion, Chexystems, and e-Verify. Bank account numbers, PIN numbers, and debit and credit card numbers should be changed. All passwords to online accounts should be changed. Multi-factor authentication should be added to all online accounts if not already in place!

Your first response if your personal data has been compromised should always be to change your passwords on the affected accounts as soon as possible. Be sure to use 12-16 character password or passphrase combinations. Try not to reuse passwords across multiple accounts. If you are having trouble remembering passwords, most modern web browsers and mobile devices come equipped with a built-in password manager.

You will also want to enable Multi-factor authentication (MFA) on any account that supports it. If you routinely access a phone number like your mobile number, you can use that number as the authentication mechanism. There are several easy-to-use authenticator apps available from Google, Microsoft, and Duo. These authenticator programs are tied to a specific device (like your mobile phone), which gives them the advantage of working even if the device is offline.

The last step you should take in the event that your personal data has been compromised is to secure your credit files. All three of the major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) offer mechanisms by which you can lock or freeze your credit file. This will prevent identity theft in the event that someone tries to open up a financial account in your name using your stolen personal information.

When your personal data has been compromised, the first action you should take is to change your passwords on all affected accounts. Then, place a fraud alert on your credit report to inform creditors that they should verify your identity before extending any new credit or allowing access to your credit report. Next steps should be to freeze your credit with all three credit bureaus—Experian, TransUnion, Equifax—and continue to monitor your credit reports for any suspicious activity. These actions will help to mitigate any damage to your finances and credit.

I often tell students that you should not haphazardly give out your personal phone number or email address. It’s best practice to have a secondary email address and, if possible, a secondary phone number. I obtained a secondary phone number for free from Google.

While the spam can be overwhelming and annoying, your number and emails can wind up on distribution lists that include more nefarious activity with malicious links sent to you though email or SMS or scams where you are called with a spoofed phone number.

The Pixel and iPhone are very good at detecting spam and scams, but messages still can slip through the cracks, and you should not click on any links from unknown or untrusted senders as the consequences could be severe and lead to compromising your personal information and data.   

I would strongly recommend against providing your phone number or email address. Whenever possible, opting out is a good idea. Unfortunately, the scale of these requests has increased exponentially over the past two decades, with the goal usually being to push additional advertising via attention-grabbing tactics (e.g., text messages, misleading emails).

Overall, the detriments of providing your personal contact information often outweigh the positives. However, since more and more services are now requiring this information, establishing a "throw-away" phone number (e.g., one of the many VoIP services, or an email address that acts solely as your "spam trap") is a good tactic to help maintain your personal sphere.

The primary risks of providing your phone number or email address to companies include increased exposure to marketing, phishing attacks, and potential privacy violations. Companies often use this information to target you with marketing campaigns and track your buying habits, which can lead to unwanted solicitations and spam.

I wish there was no risk here. You should be able to give your phone number to anyone you want. In the real world, there are two major risks: one is phishing, where people send you fake emails and texts that look like they're from legitimate providers, and take you to fake websites that will trick you into entering your passwords. Never click on a link in an email and enter your password.

Another tricky one is that many services use text messages to send codes that allow you to log into a service. Some criminals will try to trick users into sending them the code, which can allow them to reset your password and steal access to bank accounts. Never send those codes to anyone, unless you called them and know they're legitimate.

Companies or service providers will likely use this information to market their own products and services, but your email address or phone number could be sold to other entities for marketing purposes. Furthermore, the company or service provider that has your phone number or email address could suffer a data breach and scammers could pose as the company or service provider to try and obtain additional personal information from you.

Consumers should always be aware that their personal information such as phone numbers, email addresses, driver's license information, or social security numbers may be retained by companies and service providers, oftentimes for an extended period of time. For this reason, it is important to be selective in how they give out such information. It’s always good to ask a service provider whether that information is absolutely necessary to complete the transaction. Many times, it is not.

The company or service provider often likes to have that information for marketing practices. A consumer may always say that they are not comfortable providing that information. If personal information is absolutely necessary to complete a transaction, consumers can add a layer of protection by creating a Voice-Over IP (VOIP) phone number through Google Voice that they then give out to companies. Such phone numbers can be easily managed and even turned off completely if necessary. Similarly, it is easy to create email aliases. These aliases can also be easily managed and/or discontinued without affecting the primary email address. 

Most companies, with which you conduct business or use their services, will ask you for your contact information (i.e., phone number, email address, etc.). Some, such as doctors’ offices, may routinely ask you to provide your social security number. Sharing this information can potentially expose you to many intrusions from unwanted phone calls and texts to phishing attempts and data breaches that could result (in a worst case scenario) in potential identity theft.

Cyber criminals can use your personal information to apply for credit cards, unemployment, steal the deed to your property, and perform other actions that can wreak havoc on your life. Many companies such as LifeLock, GEICO, and Experian offer identity theft plans that will provide up to a million dollars in legal fees while you embark on the difficult battle of clearing your name from financial obligations that cyber criminals incurred while impersonating your identity.

Today, at a time of constant and unending breaches of personal information and data, it’s not a bad idea to have insurance against identity theft. Even if you receive a financial settlement from a company that caused your personal information to be exposed, it can take several years for the case to go to trial and for you to receive restitution. The monetary and psychological impacts of identity theft are far reaching and can not always be reversed.      

The goal for identity thieves is to earn money off your personal data. Usually, this can be done one of two ways: either establishing an account allowing them to pass themselves off as the victim (usually to purchase goods/services and stick the victim with the bill); or selling your personal data on to someone who will then create accounts in the victim's name. And while there are edge cases where identity theft is for the identity itself (e.g., to create a new persona/alias to live under, doxxing), the overwhelming majority of cases are entirely banal (e.g., using personal data to commit credit card fraud).

Identity thieves can misuse your personal data in several damaging ways:

• Financial Fraud: They can open new credit card accounts, take out loans, or make unauthorized purchases in your name.
• Account Takeover: They can gain access to your existing accounts, such as bank accounts or social media profiles, to carry out fraudulent activities.
• Medical Identity Theft: Using your information to receive medical care can lead to inaccurate medical records and unexpected bills.
• Tax Fraud: Filing fraudulent tax returns to claim refunds in your name.

Typically, identity thieves need information like your full name, Social Security number, date of birth, and address. The more details they have, the easier for them to impersonate you and commit fraud. 

There is a market for stolen accounts all over the world. People sell them in bulk. For useful accounts like email services and Facebook accounts, they can be worth a few dollars to scammers. Most Facebook accounts get turned into scam pages, pushing cryptocurrency pyramid schemes and things like that. It is incredibly hard to get Facebook to fix your account, so your friends will have to unfollow you and you'll probably have to make a new account.

There is also a background level of identity theft and credit card fraud that happens all the time. Unfortunately there is so much data about everyone already lost to hackers that there isn't much you can do to protect yourself, except for credit monitoring. Once that data is gone, it's gone.

Identity thieves can use your personal data to obtain benefits such as credit cards, utility services, government benefits, employment, medical services, and your tax refund. Identity thieves don’t need a lot of information to steal your identity — depending on the thief’s goal, your name, date of birth, and Social Security Number may be all they need. An identity thief can do a lot of financial damage, especially to children, as their credit histories are clear and often no one is checking to see if they have a credit report because they aren’t expected to have one.

Identity thieves who steal health insurance information to obtain medical services or prescription drugs can create potentially serious health consequences for victims as the thief’s records can be comingled with the victim’s — meaning the victim’s blood type or list of allergies could be changed in their medical records.

Identity thieves treasure your personal data for its monetary value. Identity thieves upload troves of stolen consumer data to dark web websites, where it can be purchased in bulk by hackers and other malicious actors.

Unfortunately, large companies like social networking sites and other legitimate companies make the problem worse by selling data obtained from their consumers to 3rd-party marketing firms as part of their business model. This means that there is a distressing amount of information about most people readily available.

Identity thieves can combine stolen personal data with other readily available information to develop comprehensive profiles about potential targets. Such data may also serve as the basis for sophisticated cyberattacks against an organization that the individual may be associated with. The damage from cyberattacks annually is measured in billions of dollars. It is important for consumers to realize that the perception of the "lone hacker" sitting alone in their basement is no longer accurate. Most cyber crime today is perpetuated by large, often multi-national organizations with sophisticated processes.

Identity thieves can use your personal data for their benefit in a multitude of ways. They might use it to obtain new credit in your name, such as credit cards, mortgages, or bank loans, empty your bank account, steal your tax refund, ruin your credit score, and generally throw your life into chaos. In addition to the financial losses, identity theft may cause legal issues, if the thief commits crimes using your identity. This damage may be accomplished using, in many cases, easily accessible information of their victim, such as:

• Full name
• Address
• Social security number
• Date of birth
• Mother’s maiden name
• Driver’s license number
• Credit card information
• Any personal details that can be used to open new accounts or access your existing accounts

So be judicious about with whom you share your personal information and how you share it — verbally, in writing, or online. Be aware that when it’s out in cyberspace, it’s up for grabs!