Removing a Stalking Victim from the Internet

The Challenge

The client was fleeing a domestic stalking situation. Their current address, phone number, workplace, and family members' details were widely available through data brokers, social media, and public records. The stalker had already used this information to show up at the client's new workplace. Every day the information remained online increased the physical danger.

Services Used

Our Approach

1. 1

   Conducted an emergency privacy audit to catalog all exposed personal information, prioritizing the most dangerous exposures first.

2. 2

   Submitted urgent opt-out requests to 112 data broker and people-search sites, following up aggressively on sites with slow removal timelines.

3. 3

   Reviewed and hardened all online accounts: enabled 2FA, changed passwords, removed recovery phone numbers that could be exploited, and restricted account visibility.

4. 4

   Hardened the client's phone and laptop: disabled location sharing, removed tracking-capable apps, configured a privacy-focused DNS, and installed a VPN.

5. 5

   Set up alerts to monitor for re-appearance of personal information on data broker sites.

6. 6

   Provided guidance on ongoing OPSEC practices to maintain privacy going forward.

Results