Data Breach

The Media Isn’t Telling Consumers The Truth About The Data Breach Epidemic

9:06am Friday, January 3, 2020

as told to Ed S. - sponsored by Truthfinder

Your personal information is almost certainly exposed online. That means people you don’t know probably have access to your personal data, even if you’d rather keep this information hidden. The good news is that Guardian is giving consumers, like you, a way to protect their data.

Here’s why exposed personal information is the most underrated consumer crisis today — and what regular people are doing to fix it.

It seems like every week there’s a new story about a massive data breach. You already know that major tech companies collect your information. But instead of protecting it, they leak your sensitive personal details over and over again.

Guardian, by TruthFinder, can show you how much of your data is actually being leaked online and what you can do to protect yourself. It provides you with a score that explains just how exposed you really are (sort of like a report card but for your online privacy).

Here’s how it works.

First, you enter your name and state and find your Guardian personal privacy record. After you select your report, Guardian can look through hundreds of millions of records and track down all of your personal data that’s currently available online. You might see things like financial records, assets, social media data, mortgage information, licenses, and other highly personal information. It’s a little scary because it’s the type of information that you’d use to verify your identity online (think security questions like "have you ever lived at 1234 55th Street?").

Next, Guardian will search what’s known as the "Dark Web." This is the part of the internet that isn’t accessible to most people unless you have special software. It’s shocking that these websites even exist. In fact, this is where identity thieves buy and sell YOUR private data. Things like passwords, social security numbers, and credit card information are all on sale. You need to monitor these dangers if you use the internet frequently. Think about what could happen if the password you use for online banking is sold on the Dark Web.

This information is crucial, because your data may be exposed even if you’ve never received a notification.

I know, because I’ve never been told that my data was exposed online, Guardian still alerted me to data security threats when I used it.

When my report came back, I was shocked to see that my Gmail password had been exposed on a dark web marketplace. Not only that, but it was exposed multiple times over the years and I had no idea it had happened. The good news is that my Social Security Number and credit card information weren’t found in the scan.

Guardian even provides tools that allow me to protect my data. By turning on "Privacy Mode" I can hide my public data from other users so that no one else can see my public report. In just a few minutes, I made my online data safer and more secure.

I would definitely recommend Guardian by TruthFinder to my friends and family. I sleep better at night knowing that identity thieves don’t have access to my personal data online, and you will too.