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Inside the "3 billion people" national public data breach

troyhunt.com

11–20 of 472 posts

Re: Inside the "3 billion people" national public data breach

#11
post #8

Troy mentions "data opt-out services. Every person who used some sort of data opt-out service was not present." Anyone have experience with these sort of services? A search brings up a lot of scammy looking results. But if services exist to reduce my profile id be interested.

If you're willing to tempt fait, the best way to 'opt-out' is to tell people, when they call asking to speak to 'your name', that 'your name' sadly passed away recently.

I have tried that, with a particular caller. They always call back.

Re: Inside the "3 billion people" national public data breach

#12

Troy mentions "data opt-out services. Every person who used some sort of data opt-out service was not present." Anyone have experience with these sort of services? A search brings up a lot of scammy looking results. But if services exist to reduce my profile id be interested.

A lot of the data opt-out services are operated by or have the same owners as data brokers. So at the very least they are selling both the poison and the cure.

Re: Inside the "3 billion people" national public data breach

#13

Troy mentions "data opt-out services. Every person who used some sort of data opt-out service was not present." Anyone have experience with these sort of services? A search brings up a lot of scammy looking results. But if services exist to reduce my profile id be interested.

Permission Slip by Consumer Reports (automated):

https://permissionslipcr.com

Simple Opt Out (manual list):

https://simpleoptout.com

Re: Inside the "3 billion people" national public data breach

#14
I’ve finally figured out the play: war of attrition.

Eventually enough data will be leaked to make moot the benefits of securing any personal data. At that point everyone stops trying and moves on to more financially rewarding activities.

I mean even if I’m an elephant, and data breaches are blind men, eventually enough blind men will draw a true comprehensive picture.

Re: Inside the "3 billion people" national public data breach

#15
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're willing to tempt fait, the best way to 'opt-out' is to tell people, when they call asking to speak to 'your name', that 'your name' sadly passed away recently.

I have tried that, with a particular caller. They always call back.

that sounds very traumatizing, next explain that you have,

filed for injunctive relief from emotional duress due to actions of defendant.

and cant speak any further as instructed by legal cousel

Re: Inside the "3 billion people" national public data breach

#16

Troy mentions "data opt-out services. Every person who used some sort of data opt-out service was not present." Anyone have experience with these sort of services? A search brings up a lot of scammy looking results. But if services exist to reduce my profile id be interested.

I have used (free trials) and currently use (discounted annual) a service called incogni. It's hard to really verify what's going on, but they at least show the brokers they are contacting on your behalf, and I've directly received confirmations from some. Anecdotally, searching my name on Google pretty much no longer returns those scummy "People Finder" pages that just scrap any public records they can find. That sa…

And turn on the Global Privacy Control header in your browser:

https://globalprivacycontrol.org

Re: Inside the "3 billion people" national public data breach

#17
post #8

Troy mentions "data opt-out services. Every person who used some sort of data opt-out service was not present." Anyone have experience with these sort of services? A search brings up a lot of scammy looking results. But if services exist to reduce my profile id be interested.

If you're willing to tempt fait, the best way to 'opt-out' is to tell people, when they call asking to speak to 'your name', that 'your name' sadly passed away recently.

Could cause you to be listed as deceased in some database sending your life into a Kafka story.

Re: Inside the "3 billion people" national public data breach

#19

Time for services everywhere to stop using SSNs for identification and for the US to move on to a more advanced form of identification. And lock your credit.

What can an attacker who knows your SSN still do with that information nowadays? Genuinely curious, as the SSN is just this strange in distinct password thingy the Europeans like me hear about on HN but have no actual parallels with.

Re: Inside the "3 billion people" national public data breach

#20

Troy mentions "data opt-out services. Every person who used some sort of data opt-out service was not present." Anyone have experience with these sort of services? A search brings up a lot of scammy looking results. But if services exist to reduce my profile id be interested.

> Anyone have experience with these sort of services? Quite a bit. Often if you request removal or opt-out, you'll reappear in a matter of a few months in their system, regardless of whether you use a professional service as a proxy or do it yourself. The data brokers usually go out of their way to be annoying about it and will claim they can't do anything about you showing up in their aggregated sources later on. Th…

this is true and nothing new.. mass "gray market" personal information services lept into markets since VISA and Mastercard fifty years ago, and somewhat before that with driving records, in the USA. The "pure land" of democracy in North America was never pure, and the Bad Old Ways have crept into the corners since the beginning.
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