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If you’re worried about your privacy, it’s important to know how to stop your information leakage. Unfortunately, often there will be nothing you can do to prevent people from listing your information. However, here is a compilation of places identity thieves use as sources of data. You may wish to use it as a guide in protecting your own privacy, as they represent ways in which you may want to make your privacy more secure.
First, there are a number of websites online that offer a lot of information for free. These sites range from public records of real estate transactions, court proceedings, and business deals, to the free database (including the social security numbers of thousands of dead Americans) run by the Mormon church, which is designed to be of help to genealogy enthusiasts. Another type of site offers public but personal information for a fee. These fees–which, when paid, can essentially destroy your privacy–can run as little as fifteen or twenty dollars. An inexpensive background check may be a boon when you’re trying to find a trustworthy babysitter, but it also offers a legal, convenient, and extremely accessible tool for identity thieves.
Another one of the main sources of security leakage that identity thieves use is mail. Many important documents go through the mail, with information on them that is essential to control if you’re interested in safeguarding your privacy. Bank statements, paid or unpaid bills, and pre-approved credit card offers are among the many culprits. Many people simply throw these items in the trash. Unfortunately for your privacy, dumpster diving is completely legal. Other identity thieves don’t wait for you to throw your valuable information in the trash; they simply steal your mail before you get to it.
Protecting your privacy may be difficult, and certainly it requires that you are constantly careful about keeping your information secure. However, when it comes to preventing identity theft, constant care is the only way.
