The fact most of these sites even have opt-out mechanisms, and that they're apparently effective,
My last name is one that fewer than 20 people in the world have. So doxxing protection and name management in general is very important to me. A few years ago I took about a day and had myself removed from everywhere I could find. Far more comprehensive than this article.
In the three years since, I've slowly been added back to all of them. I haven't moved, I haven't added or subtracted phone numbers, I've made no life changes. It just seems like these data brokers remove your information when you ask and then for whatever reason just add it back again. One example: whitepages.com. I was removed from there about two years and then suddenly my name and address are back again. That's just one example that leads me to believe the opt-out at these data brokers is "temporarily effective" at best.
My last name is one that fewer than 20 people in the world have. So doxxing protection and name management in general is very important to me. A few years ago I took about a day and had myself removed from everywhere I could find. Far more comprehensive than this article.
In the three years since, I've slowly been added back to all of them. I haven't moved, I haven't added or subtracted phone numbers, I've made no life changes. It just seems like these data brokers remove your information when you ask and then for whatever reason just add it back again. One example: whitepages.com. I was removed from there about two years and then suddenly my name and address are back again. That's just one example that leads me to believe the opt-out at these data brokers is "temporarily effective" at best.