Your Personal Information Might Be Exposed - Take Control of Your Online Privacy With This

Do you worry about data brokers gathering and selling your personal information? If so, there’s a new way to take back control of your online privacy. It’s called Privacy Monitor Assistant from NortonLifeLock.

Here’s the problem. Data brokers can easily access a trove of your personal details. That might include your name, address, age, employer, relatives, and court records — and a lot more. They take this data and sell it or publish it on data broker websites such as FastPeopleSearch. Take a look and see what information comes up when you search.

You’re not alone in wanting to protect your data. Here’s what the 2019 NortonLifeLock Cyber Safety Insights Report, conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll, found:

Top concerns about data privacy include personal information being exposed in a data breach and compromised by cybercriminals (52%) and sensitive personal information being sold to third parties and used in decision-making processes without their consent (43%).

The good news? Privacy Monitor is available in Norton 360 with LifeLock plans. With Privacy Monitor, popular data broker sites are scanned for personal info. We provide instructions and guidance so members can opt out.

And now we’re introducing Privacy Monitor Assistant, which can make it even easier to take control of your digital safety and online privacy.

How do data brokers get and sell your info?

Data brokers make billions of dollars doing one thing: collecting private information about millions of people and selling it. They also may publish it online.

You might be surprised how easily data brokers can find your information. Many of us reveal lot about ourselves on social media. Your online activity, along with public records, can give data brokers loads of data.

Here are some common facts data brokers and their customers might love to know about you:

• Your current and previous addresses.
• Your phone numbers.
• Your employment information.
• Where you went to school.
• Your social profiles.
• Whether you’re single, married, or divorced.
• The number and ages of your kids.

That’s not all. Data brokers and their customers also want to know other personal information, like criminal arrest and conviction records, warrants or bankruptcies. Do you like to bike, sing, or quilt? A data broker might want to add that information to their files, too.

How scammers could use your personal information

You might worry about so much detailed personal information being available online. One big risk? Cybercriminals and scammers may use data broker websites to gather information and combine it with other information they can find about you online so they can use it to commit identity theft.

Here’s an example. Think about those security questions some websites require you to answer so they can verify your identity. A scammer might be able to find out your answers to common questions, such as your dream vacation destination, your high school mascot, or the city where you met your spouse.

That’s why it’s smart to take back control of your online privacy and help protect one of your most valuable assets — your personal information.

How to protect your private information

You can take steps to control the publication and sale of your information. For instance, you can ask data brokers to remove your information from websites. But here’s the catch: It can be overwhelming to track down these sites and make the requests.

That’s where Privacy Monitor Assistant from NortonLifeLock can help you take back control of your information.

How does it work? Privacy Monitor Assistant scans 25 popular data broker websites for your personal data. If any of your information is found, open a case and  NortonLifeLock Member Services and Support agents will do the work for you to request deletion of your information.

If you’re already a Norton™ 360 customer, you can add the service to your plan. Privacy Monitor Assistant is available as an add-on annual subscription service with some Norton™ 360 plans for $99 per year.

No one can prevent all cybercrime or ID theft, but Privacy Monitor Assistant helps make your job easier with  scanning of popular data-broker and people-search sites and white-glove service from support agents in requesting removal of your information. All you have to do is go into your portal every 90 days to trigger a new scan and submit a new request.

Learn more about Privacy Monitor and Privacy Monitor Assistant and get the peace of mind that comes with extra awareness for your online privacy.

Editorial note: Our articles provide educational information for you. NortonLifeLock offerings may not cover or protect against every type of crime, fraud, or threat we write about. Our goal is to increase awareness about cyber safety. Please review complete Terms during enrollment or setup. Remember that no one can prevent all identity theft or cybercrime, and that LifeLock does not monitor all transactions at all businesses.

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