It’s become a fact of life that, however you use the Internet, the personal information you enter online is up for grabs. It’s not just Google and Facebook; data brokers like Intelius and Axciom exist to mine information on behalf of companies looking to serve you content. This practice is done opaquely and without giving the user the means to opt out.
Even as organizations like the Federal Trade Commission do battle with such companies to ensure your right to privacy, it’s easy to feel powerless in the face of these massive corporations. Thankfully, users are afforded some recourse — in the form of sites like DeleteMe and MyPrivacy — when it comes to deleting the information they simply don’t want shared. Now, with DeleteMe Mobile, you can do it from your iPhone.
DeleteMe Mobile, like its desktop counterpart, is an effort by online privacy outfit Abine to make keeping track of and deleting sensitive information about you online simple and away from people without your best interests in mind, be they advertisers or stalkers.
“These are sites that a probably selling a lot of personal data,” said Abine privacy analyst Sarah Downey. “Where you’ve lived for the past 20 years. What you do. Overwhelmingly people don’t want to be on these sites. These sites can take people from not knowing where you live to your front door.”
When opening the app, the user is required to enter a minimal amount of information. Then, the app searches for information that matches the user’s data across more than 50 data tracking companies on the Web. The user can then delete what matches their own information. The bulk of the heavy lifting is done by Abine, but Abine also offers data deletion instructions on their website for free.
DeleteMe Mobile is available for free in the App Store, giving users one free record removal. Users can also sign up for three months of service for $24.99.
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