Quick reminder: Most old cellphones can still call 911 even without a plan. Federal law requires all cellphones to connect to emergency services, even if they don’t have active service. A 2-year-old in Oklahoma put this to the test by calling for an emergency donut delivery. The dispatcher played along, and the police showed up with Dunkin’ treats.
I wasted 36 hours trying to do it myself
© Fizkes | Dreamstime.com
So many of the calls, emails, messages and DMs I get are about privacy and security. I can’t remember the last time I had a full day where no one asked me some version of “How do I get all this info about me off the internet?”
It’s not just you. It’s me, too. After finding my personal cellphone number available on a free people-search site last year, I made it my mission to scrub everything online about me. There are literally hundreds of companies and sites that collect personal info, and they make it extremely hard to get your data removed. Why? Because they profit from selling your data — and mine.
I called the series Opt-Out Tuesday. We put together articles, newsletters and radio segments promoting it. I shared the steps in my nationally syndicated columns. And yet …
I didn’t make a dent
To be fair, we heard from a ton of people who had success following our instructions and removing their info. In fact, the big people search site networks got so peeved, they changed the steps to remove your data after one of my articles went viral.
I spent 36 hours emailing the scummy sites, filling out forms, making calls and even sending letters by USPS. I gave up when I had no real progress. That’s when I researched services to do this for me. I tried three, and I ultimately picked Incogni.
It took me about 3 minutes
Creating an account was easy, and I was immediately opted out of 27 databases, with 47 more requests sent. Now we’re talking about hundreds of sites I’m opted out of with no extra work on my end.
All you have to do is create an account and then enter your name and address. These sites require this info to remove your data — so you’d do that whether or not you use Incogni. Bonus: You can add up to three addresses and three phone numbers, too, so they can catch all the sneaky records.
Then, you grant Incogni permission to reach out on your behalf. After you finish the setup process, you’ll see a list of sites you’ve been removed from and pending requests.
Here’s a look at sites they target that collect information on Americans. (Get ready to scroll!)
- https://www.33mileradius.com/
- https://www.360mediadirect.com/
- https://www.accudata.com/
- https://www.achcoop.com/
- https://www.addefend.com/en/
- http://adelement.com/
- https://www.advancedbackgroundchecks.com
- http://www.affinityanswers.com
- https://agedleadstore.com/
- https://www.aidentified.com/
- https://alescodata.com/
- https://allantgroup.com/
- https://allpeople.com/
- http://anchorcomputer.com/
- https://anteriad.com/
- https://www.apollo.io/
- https://arkeero.com/
- https://aslmarketing.com/
- http://www.attribits.com
- https://www.backgroundcheckers.net/name/landing
- https://belardiwong.com/
- https://www.blisspointmedia.com/
- https://www.bookyourdata.com/
- http://bridg.com/
- https://www.thebridgecorp.com/
- https://carpe.io/
- https://www.censia.com/
- https://checkpeople.com/
- https://www.checksecrets.com/
- https://www.civisanalytics.com/
- https://www.clustrmaps.com
- https://www.compactlists.com/
- https://completemailinglists.com/
- http://completemedicallists.com/
- https://www.comscore.com/
- https://contacts411.com/
- https://www.convex.com/
- https://www.crosswalknyc.com/
- https://www.crunchbase.com/
- https://cybba.com/
- https://www.cyberbackgroundchecks.com
- https://datastreamgroup.com/
- https://decadata.io/
- https://decisionlinks.com/
- https://academixdirect.com/
- https://www.deluxe.com
- https://demyst.com/
- https://diablomedia.com/
- https://www.dice.com/
- https://digitalmediasolutions.com/
- https://www.digitalsegment.com/
- https://www.dataaxlenonprofit.com/donorbase/
- https://www.dynata.com/
- https://lightcast.io/
- https://www.enformion.com/
- https://www.ermes.ai/
- https://www.equifax.com/
- https://exactag.com/
- http://fetcher.ai/
- https://faraday.ai/
- https://www.fastbackgroundcheck.com
- https://www.fastpeoplesearch.com/
- https://fifty.io/
- https://fifty.io/us
- https://www.findem.ai
- https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
- https://www.floridaresidentsdirectory.com
- https://www.focus-usa.com/
- https://www.freepeopledirectory.com
- https://www.fullcontact.com/
- https://www.gadsme.com/
- https://giantpartners.com/
- https://www.healthwisedata.com/
- https://www.hightouch.com
- https://hireez.com/
- https://deepsync.com/
- https://homeownersmarketingservices.com/
- https://id5.io/
- https://idm.us.com
- https://www.idtrue.com
- https://www.infopay.com/
- https://inmarket.com/
- https://www.inmatessearcher.com/name/landing
- http://www.insurancemarketinghub.com
- https://intalytics.com/
- https://intentmacro.com/
- https://kbsynergy.com/
- https://keywordconnects.com/
- https://www.kidslivesafe.com
- https://l2-data.com/
- https://www.lbdigitaldata.com/
- https://www.leadmemedia.com/
- https://leadpost.com/
- https://www.lighthouselist.com/
- https://www.lionsharemarketing.com/
- https://www.listmatch.co/
- http://listsonline.com/
- https://littlebrookmedia.com/
- https://maxmind.com/
- https://mediawallah.com/
- https://www.michiganresidentdatabase.com/
- https://www.milestonemarketingsolutions.com/
- https://www.moodys.com/
- https://www.mugshotlook.com/name/landing
- https://nationalpublicdata.com/
- https://www.northcarolinaresidentdatabase.com/
- https://neighbor.report/
- https://www.nuwber.com
- https://www.officialusa.com/
- https://www.ohioresidentdatabase.com
- https://optimalfusion.com/
- https://outwardmedia.com/
- https://www.pacificeast.com/
- https://www.peekyou.com/
- https://www.peoplesearchnow.com/
- https://www.peoplelooker.com
- https://www.peoplesearch123.com/
- https://www.peoplesearcher.com/name/landing
- https://www.peoplesearchusa.org/
- https://www.personsearchers.com/
- https://pipl.com/
- https://popacta.com/
- https://postie.com/
- https://www.privatenumberchecker.com/
- https://www.privaterecords.net/name/landing
- https://www.privatereports.com/name/landing
- https://www.publicsearcher.com/name/landing
- https://www.purecars.com/
- https://www.quad.com/
- https://www.qualfon.com/
- https://www.realeflow.com
- https://www.realsourcedata.com/
- https://www.redidata.com
- https://remodeling.com/
- https://www.revealname.com/
- https://salesintel.io/
- https://salutarydata.com/
- https://www.sealedrecords.net/name/landing
- https://www.searchbug.com
- https://www.searchpeoplefree.com
- https://www.searchpublicrecords.com
- https://www.secretinfo.org/name/landing
- https://www.semcasting.com/
- https://www.sentilink.com/
- https://sharelocalmedia.com/
- https://www.shopalyst.com/
- http://siteimpact.com/
- https://www.smartbackgroundchecks.com
- https://www.sms-inc.com/
- https://www.sourceit.co/
- https://speedeondata.com/
- https://www.spyfly.com
- https://statara.com/
- https://www.stirista.com/
- https://swordfish.ai/
- https://www.evs7.com/
- https://www.telephonedirectories.us
- https://terminus.com
- https://www.peoplesearcher.com/
- https://truepeoplesearch.com/
- https://www.truthrecord.org/name_search/landing_page
- https://unitedstatesphonebook.com/
- https://www.uplead.com/
- https://www.usdatacorporation.com/
- https://usmarketinggrp.com/
- https://usa-people-search.com/
- https://www.usphonebook.com/
- https://www.veeva.com/services/
- https://www.venpath.net/
- https://www.vericast.com/
- https://versium.com/
- https://www.fourleafdata.com/
- https://www.weinform.org/name_search/landing_page
- https://www.wunderkind.co/
Try it free
Right now, try Incogni free for 30 days. If you’re not completely satisfied, get your money back. Use this link to get 60% off when you sign up. I don’t get any residuals or kickbacks if you buy. I just want to help you stay safe. Good luck out there!
Delete an email? It’s not gone
Free email services can recover messages days or weeks after you hit delete. Here’s what to know.
🚨 Google alert: Hackers sent out 115,000 phishing invites to 13,500 orgs that use the Google Classroom platform. They pitched SEO services, then pushed people to WhatsApp to rope them into scams. Reminder: Always verify the sender, especially when they try to redirect you off-platform. That’s a red flag every single time.
$12.99 per month
That’s the new price of Apple TV+, up from $9.99. If you’re already subscribed, you’ll see the price change 30 days after your next renewal date. Some good news? Yearly TV+ subscriptions and the Apple One services bundle aren’t changing. At least not yet. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Paying too much for cloud services? Check this out. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is built for speed, power and serious savings, without the usual cloud headaches. That’s why some of the biggest AI innovators trust it. Try it for free right now.
Paying too much for cloud services? Check this out. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is built for speed, power and serious savings, without the usual cloud headaches. That’s why some of the biggest AI innovators trust it. Try it for free right now.
Paying too much for cloud services? Check this out. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is built for speed, power and serious savings, without the usual cloud headaches. That’s why some of the biggest AI innovators trust it. Try it for free right now.
🌐 Paying too much for cloud services? Check this out. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is built for speed, power and serious savings, without the usual cloud headaches. That’s why some of the biggest AI innovators trust it. Try it for free right now.
AT&T’s new Account Lock feature: Finally, a way to stop SIM-swapping attacks. That’s when hackers transfer your number to their own SIM to steal 2FA codes. To turn it on, open the myAT&T app and go to Services > Mobile Security > Wireless Account Lock.
Paying too much for cloud services? Check this out. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, or OCI, is built for speed, power and serious savings, without the usual cloud headaches. That’s why some of the biggest AI innovators trust it. Try it for free right now.
In the past 2 years
The number of people using AI at work every day has doubled from 4% to 8%. White-collar employees are the main culprits, especially in tech, professional services and finance. The twist? Only 15% think AI will take their job in the next five years. Someone tell them what’s happening at Amazon.
💸 Avoid PayPal fees: Transferring money to friends or family? Pick Sending to a friend instead of Goods and Services to skip the fee. It works if you’re using a linked bank account or PayPal balance. FYI: There’s no buyer protection, so only use it with people you trust.
🌴 It’s not just beds anymore: Airbnb just leveled up with its new services live in 260+ cities. The app now offers spa treatments, private chefs, personal trainers and more. Basically, it evolved from “couch in Berlin” to celebrity-led adventures like Megan Thee Stallion’s anime-themed “Otaku Hottie Quest,” whatever that means.
🚨 Fake health insurance: Scammers are offering “discounted” medical plans that don’t actually cover anything but your steady descent into rage headaches. Red flags? Pressure to act fast or promises of free services that sneak in extra fees. PSA: Look up the provider on the Better Business Bureau to check if an offer is legit.
Nvidia’s dropping personal AI computers: This is something. The DGX PCs are built for researchers, developers, robotics engineers, data scientists and students. The big perk? You can tune AI models locally instead of relying on expensive cloud services. They’re not cheap. Prices start at $4,000! Reserve yours here.
🍪 Crumble the cookie’s Edge: To keep the trackers away in Edge, click the three dots (top-right corner) for Settings. Click on Privacy, Search, and Services and find Tracking Prevention. Set it to either Basic, Balanced (Edge’s recommendation) or Strict for more protection.
82%
K-12 schools hit by cybercriminals from July 2023 to December 2024. That’s over 9,300 incidents. Most happened when staff fell for phishing scams. But they didn’t just lose data. Some attacks forced schools to close and affected meals and special education services.
Watch your pulse: If you have no pulse and don’t move for 20 seconds, Google’s Pixel Watch 3 calls emergency services. The FDA just gave Google the go-ahead to roll it out. Have one? Go to Safety & emergency > Loss of Pulse Detection to turn it on.
Netflix defies all odds
With streaming services scrambling for your cash and costs skyrocketing, one streamer is breaking the mold and pulling in new subscribers every month against all odds.