Your privacy is indeed valuable, and taking steps to protect it is crucial. Here are two outstanding resources that can help you in the battle to preserve your digital rights and minimize the amount of personal information you leave behind
- YourDigitalRights.org: This free service empowers users to regain control of their online privacy by facilitating the deletion or access of personal information held by organizations. YourDigitalRights.org automates the process outlined in data protection laws that grant individuals rights over their data. By sending requests to organizations, the site helps ensure that users’ requests are resolved in their favor. It supports two types of requests:
• Data Deletion Requests: Users can ask organizations to delete their personal information, also known as erasure or right-to-be-forgotten requests.
• Access Requests: Users can request organizations to provide a copy of their personal information, also known as Subject Access Requests (SAR).
The service is provided by Conscious Digital, a registered nonprofit organization committed to transparency. They do not sell user information and are not affiliated with the organizations they assist. YourDigitalRights.org also highlights escalation mechanisms available under data protection laws, such as filing complaints with regulatory agencies or taking legal action. Their “Smart Follow-up Assistance” option provides personalized advice and assistance for cases where organizations fail to comply with requests. - DataBrokersWatch.org: This website curates the largest publicly available database of data brokers and makes it accessible to the research community. Data brokers collect personal data from various sources and license it to other organizations without users’ knowledge or consent. This practice contributes to privacy loss, surveillance capitalism, micro-targeting, misinformation, and the addictive nature of digital experiences.
DataBrokersWatch.org simplifies the process of tracking down data broker companies by providing comprehensive information on 906 services worldwide, including up to 60+ data points for each service. Data brokers purchase data in bulk, aggregate it, and create proprietary databases that house this data. Personal data is fragmented across numerous databases and data warehouses owned by different data providers. Data brokers and resellers acquire data from these providers.
It’s worth noting that both websites may have Google Analytics and Matomo tracking services enabled, but you can render them safe by using an appropriate ad blocker.
These resources simplify complex topics and save you extensive research time. By leveraging YourDigitalRights.org and DataBrokersWatch.org, you can take significant steps towards protecting your privacy and digital rights.