What is a digital footprint? How to erase online information, protect yourself from phishing, identity theft and scams

CHICAGO (WLS) — Think about all the times you have handed over personal information. It is scattered across hundreds of companies and databases.

Now, the ABC7 I-Team is finding out how you can now erase this information to avoid becoming a scam victim. You can do this on your own, and there are services to clean up your digital footprint.

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From your phone number and home address to emails, passwords and more, businesses collect your information, sometimes selling it to data brokers.

“All that stuff creates this massive digital footprint. And a lot of these services, we don’t even use anymore. And they still have our data, because unless your request that they delete your data, they hang on to it forever,” said PrivacyHawk CEO and co-founder Aaron Mendes.

Mendes says getting rid of that data could help protect you from identity theft, scams, those annoying phishing texts, and targeted ads. The I-Team has shown you how your personal information can be used against you, like when people’s addresses are scraped online, leading them to be bombarded by unwanted boxes. Others have been targeted by texts with fake offers from celebrity crypto cons.

“Your data, our personal data is ultimately the root cause of all scams, spam and fraud, because that’s how they reach out to you and try to scam you, or that’s how they steal your information,” Mendes said.

Several states, like Illinois, require businesses to delete certain types of data, but experts say it is an easy ask no matter where you are.

“So many states that have privacy regulation it has become too difficult for companies to keep track, so most companies will make any delete request you make,” Mendes said.

You can do this on your own, for free. And while asking may be easy, it can take hours to track down every business and find those data brokers. You can also look into services like DeleteMe, Incogni, Optery and PrivacyHawk.

“The way that we figure it out is we sync with your inbox, which is where all the relationships are. Every time you sign up for something, there’s a confirmation email,” Mendes said.

Experts say no service can remove everything. New data is constantly being collected. But deleting as much as possible can make you a less visible target. If your information is leaked on the dark web, it cannot be removed at all.