How to get your address off the internet: What you need to know to protect yourself
With so much work and communication taking place online these days, companies and people are making ourselves vulnerable to a range of negative exposure – from unfair reviews of your service or product and how to get your address off the internet to complete scrutiny of your online presence.
Table of contents
Keep your personal information private with Reputation America
It’s free, confidential, and without obligation
How to get your address off the internet: The steps you need to be successful
Case
Read more casesSituation
“Dr. Harris”, a female doctor, recently changed her job, however, the old online contact information remained the same and she was receiving calls about her past position. She repeatedly had to apologize and tell these people she no longer worked for this organization. After a while, it became a problem and she was tired of doing it, spending her valuable time on this annoying issue.
Solution
She eventually contacted us about her problem and after performing an in-depth search, we found a site representative and contacted him. All incorrect mentions of the doctor’s contact information were quickly removed and the phone calls stopped.
Unfortunately, what Dr. Harris experienced is not unique and is becoming increasingly common as the internet becomes bigger and more robust, containing unmeasurable amounts of data, including incorrect contact information such as mailing and email addresses.
How to remove my address off the internet and other personal information
So how can you protect yourself and your organization from the disastrous consequences of having incorrect or sensitive personal information come up in an online search? Or how to delete my address from the internet? The good news is that there are a number of fairly simple steps you can take to protect your online presence and exactly what personal and professional information viewers can access.
Online search
Before we do a deeper dive and learn how to remove your address online, we’re going to start with the obvious step of performing an online search of yourself and/or your business to see where and how you are mentioned. When performing a Google search, it is imperative that you log out of your Google account and clear your search history/cache as they will impact the search results.
In order to perform a thorough search, you need to search both your name and address with different variations like, “Jim Smith + city/address” or “Jim Smith + employer.
What you can do if you find your address in search engines:
- Option 1: Contact the site administrator with a request for removal.
- Option 2: If the site administrator ignores your requests, contact the owner of the domain itself.
- Option 3: Contact Google Support and/or their Help Center.
- Option 4: If all else fails, explore legal and litigation routes. Start with Google’s legal troubleshooter form.
- Option 5: Contact Reputation America, who will help you remove any outdated online content.
Update and delete stagnant social media accounts
With the number of social media channels these days, it can be difficult to keep track and maintain your accounts, particularly if they’ve fallen out of use and are not being updated regularly. For the accounts you are using, make sure all of the “about us” and contact information is updated. For the accounts that aren’t really being used, decide if you want to keep them open – if not, delete.
What you can do if you find your address on social media:
- Option 1: If an incorrect address is posted on another page, directly contact the author or administrator of the post/content/page that contains your incorrect address information.
- Option 2: If you do not receive a response or the author refuses to remove/update the information, explore legal options to remove the information which may be deemed cyber-libel.
- Option 3: If an older account is displaying incorrect information and you’re unable to login, contact customer support directly explaining you no longer have access and would like the account or information removed because it is not correct or no longer being used.
Data brokers
But in addition to the chaos of the virtual world, your online information is being bought and sold by a number of different groups – transactions that take place without your awareness. Some of these groups include data brokers who facilitate such transactions with brands that you probably know of.
Unfortunately, having your information removed from the major data brokers can be a cumbersome process, but it is possible.
How to remove your address in data brokers:
Step 1: A number of these brokers offer routes to opt-out, or restrict and delete which information is being sold – some of them include:
- Epsilon
- Experian
- CoreLogic
Step 2: Moving forward on an overall scale, when providing information online and over the phone, make sure you are fully aware of how the information will be used and where it can be found.
Step 3: Contact a company such as Reputation America, to help remove your info from the more than 50 data brokers currently in operation.
Get help
If there is damaging information or content about yourself or your organization available online, there are a number of resources that can help you. Or you can contact a company such as Reputation America who can improve your search results and online reputation, showing you how to update personal information or how to get your address off the internet. We will assess your situation and provide solutions to any issues you might have such as deleting, rectification, and even negotiation with the hosting site.
What are your benefits?
Working with Reputation America will not only help you get your address off the internet, but we will save you the time, energy, and stress of removing your address and contact information from the web. We solve your problem by tackling the root of the issue instead of the consequences, negotiating with other sites to have your incorrect address and other information removed – and refreshing your reputation without any risks.
Ultimately, in order to save yourself from having to spend the time removing and updating contact information, you need to regularly update your contact info with plans of getting your address off the internet and other relevant info when changing jobs. Remember, being aware is the first, important step.
Still need help?
Do you still need help to remove your address from the internet or any other important contact information? If so, we can help. Not only will your information be removed quickly and promptly, but it will be redacted with a lifetime guarantee.
Still have questions?
It’s free, confidential, and without obligation
This article does not have any comments. Be first to leave one.