We’ve seen several instances recently about massive data breaches from companies such as National Public Data, Dell, and AT&T. And while that may feel discouraging, at least this is one piece of help: Google is now providing "dark web" reports to all its users. This report can alert you to what personal information may be floating around the portions of the internet not easily accessible by most users. Previously, this benefit was just for its paid Google One subscribers but they are soon rolling out this service to all Google account users. To access this feature, go to your Results About You page where you can also request removal of some information. Remember – just because you request removal of personal information on the internet, doesn’t mean it will happen. Also, identity protection programs such as LifeLock only help so much, so our recommendation is to place credit freezes at all three credit bureaus, and use unique, complex passwords. We may not be able to control the actions of bad actors, but we can help control access to our personal information.
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