COVERT Protocol Action #8: Audit and Clean Your Online Exposure

About this episode

This episode discusses steps to audit and clean your online exposure to protect against identity theft and malicious activities.

Systematically reduce your publicly visible personal information by identifying where your data appears online (search engines, data brokers, people-search sites) and using services to request removal or opt-out, so third parties and automated systems can’t easily collect, sell, or expose your PII. This step helps protect against spam, identity theft, unsolicited marketing, and malicious activity such as doxxing. Steps to scrubbing your online footprint: 1. Scan for exposure: Search major search engines (e.g., Google) for your name, email, phone number, and other PII to see what’s publicly visible. Note where your data appears. 2. Use a removal service: Sign up for a data removal service to automate opt-out requests to data brokers and people-search sites that hold or publish your personal information. 3. Submit opt-out requests: Depending on the service, you may need to confirm the data to remove or authorize the provider to act on your behalf. 4. Verify removal: After the service processes requests, check periodically (every few months) to confirm your data has been removed or suppressed, and resubmit if necessary. 5. Monitor ongoing exposure: Some services continually monitor…

Topics covered

• online privacy
• data removal
• identity theft
• digital footprint
• personal information

Keywords

• online exposure
• data brokers
• PII
• opt-out requests
• doxxing
• spam
• identity theft

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pentester.com

More episodes of The OPSEC Podcast

• COVERT Protocol Action #10: Segment your Online Personas · June 1, 2026 · 7 min
• COVERT Protocol Action #9: Harden your Home Network · May 18, 2026 · 10 min
• COVERT Protocol Action #7: Harden your Devices · April 20, 2026 · 14 min
• COVERT Protocol Action #6: Audit Your Children Social Media Accounts · March 30, 2026 · 36 min
• COVERT Protocol Action #5: Audit Your Social Media Accounts · March 9, 2026 · 8 min
• COVERT Protocol Action #4: Harden your Communications and Services · February 23, 2026 · 7 min