It may sound like science fiction, but in the US it is legal for companies to buy and sell your personal data without your consent. Apple has built useful tools such as App Tracking Transparency, Hide My Email, and iCloud Private Relay to limit future tracking. However, these tools cannot remove data that has already been collected, bought, and spread across hundreds of broker databases over the past decade.
Data brokers gather information from many sources to build detailed profiles on individuals. Your phone number, home address, Social Security number, maiden name, family connections, past employers, car loans, and previous addresses can all be packaged and sold. Long terms and conditions often contain clauses allowing data to be "shared with selected partners," meaning sensitive details such as location history may be resold to anyone willing to pay. The industry is largely unregulated, leaving few protections over who can buy this information or how it is used.
The security risk grows over time. Scammers and hackers who know your job title, your neighbors' names, and where you grew up can craft convincing phishing messages. People search sites also act as public directories that can reveal your location, relatives, and daily patterns to anyone looking. In most US states you have a legal right to request removal, but doing so is time-consuming and deliberately difficult. You must contact hundreds of companies, each with its own hard-to-find opt-out process, and every family member must apply separately. Even after successful removals, brokers can repurchase and recollect your data.
Automated services such as Incogni can handle this work. Incogni sends legally binding removal requests to 420+ data broker databases, follows up when brokers resist, and repeats the process at regular intervals to keep your information off these sites. Its Unlimited plan extends coverage to 3,000+ additional sites and includes a dashboard showing the status of every request. The result is fewer robocalls, less spam, and a smaller target for identity thieves and scammers.
Source: 9to5Mac · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing