Protect yourself and take your personal data offline with Incogni

Every day, your personal information is bought and sold by data brokers who make their living by destroying your privacy. You can take back control of your personal data and protect it from being sold with the help of our friends at Incogni.

How your information gets online

One of the best things about the internet today is the availability of numerous free apps and tools that help you get work done, stay entertained, connect with friends, and so much more. However, almost nothing in life is ever truly free. Instead, you’re paying by giving up some of your personal information, often including your name, phone number, email address, and more.

In some cases, this information is then sold to data brokers who happily resell your personal details to willing buyers. It’s also become increasingly common for major companies and agencies to be breached, resulting in your info appearing on the dark web.

No matter how it’s initially obtained, it’s now all too easy for anyone – whether an employer, insurer, or stalker – to learn more about your personal life through something like a people search website.

In recent months, scammers have begun using your private info in conjunction with the new wave of AI tools. For example, it’s now possible to create an AI copy of someone’s voice, which has led to a wave of terrifying phone scams using a relative’s voice. This is all the more reason to take as much of your personal data offline as possible to protect yourself and your family.

Read more: Common phone number scams & frauds

How to take your personal info offline

The first thing you want to do to take back control of your information is limit the number of apps and companies that have it. Laws like California’s CCPA and Europe’s GDPR have made massive strides toward ensuring your data can be fully deleted. So anytime you know that you won’t use a particular app or service again, don’t just delete the app – try to find a way to fully delete your account. This prevents the info from being sold to brokers or exposed in a breach.

You should also double-check your privacy settings on any social networks that you use. For example, some apps allow you to publicly display your email address and phone number, an option you should disable. Similarly, if your employer includes your contact info on its website, you should ask to have it removed where reasonable.

Once you’ve taken steps to prevent future exposure, it’s time to take back your personal data.

Data brokers and people search sites offer ways to request to remove yourself from their records. Unfortunately and predictably, the way to do so is often well-hidden, complicated, and above all, time-consuming.

Worse, not only can brokers contest the removal request, but they also can list you again using new sources. That means you’ll need to frequently recheck all of the brokers and search sites and potentially go through the removal request all over again.

If that sounds to you like a never-ending battle, you’re absolutely right, but thankfully, Incogni is here to fight to protect your personal life.

Incogni to the rescue

Incogni was created by Surfshark, a leading VPN provider and cybersecurity company. Building upon Surfshark’s years of expertise, Incogni has fully automated the process of finding which brokers have your personal information and requesting that it be removed.

Once Incogni is on your side, they do all the work for you, including fighting any contested removals and ensuring your info never reappears online. You can see the work being done and rest easy knowing that your private life will stay private.

Better yet, Incogni is able to make its service affordable, even offering a steep discount through the annual plan, bringing the per-month cost down to just $6.49. Plus, for a limited time, our readers can enjoy an exclusive 55% discount with the purchase of an annual plan – just use code “9to5google” at checkout.