EFF was right again
this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025
475 points (99.6% liked)
Technology
71530 readers
4806 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
These sites should be illegal. There is no legitimate use for them
There are some legitimate uses for them but I definitely think they should be locked down so that only people who actually have a legitimate need can find people.
Why aren't the data brokers being charged with accessory to murder?
💰
It's actually really easy to get your info off these sites, as they have to delete it upon your request. Just take 20 minutes, pull up any random Top 20 Background Check Sites list, locate the specific pages with your info, and go to town with those deletion requests. (There should be a link to a deletion form on the page or a link to submit a request via email, at least that's how it was when I did this five years ago.)
I read your post and reply below and am surprised that your info never showed back up online.
I tried this myself about a year ago back when Google first announced they would also add a tool to assist in removal of unnecessary info like this.
I found that I was able to remove about 70% that never came back.
10-15 percent more, whether they were via Google or whatever, would flat out refuse to remove the info for various reasons.
The remainder would often remove it only for me to find it later with some sort of ‘change’ and that being - they put the info back in and had changed the spelling of my last name or now had me listed as a business so as to get around certain privacy listing rules (like WTF).
Interesting!
I haven't run into any of that. Not sure why, but what a pain.
I'm not a lawyer, but from my understanding there's actually no legal obligation for them to delete US citizens' data. They generally delete it anyways to avoid creating backlash that would lead to regulation, though.
It probably depends on the state.
But, I did mine five years ago and still check it periodically. My info's not on Spokeo or any of those scummy sites even all these years later, so it's a good way to spend 20-30 minutes.
There is no allegedly, the dude was a total boomer and literally wrote out instructions on how to dox someone in his notebook which are shown in the federal complaint against him
Literally outlines which sites are free, which ones have free trials, etc
Like you you would think he would just use a text document or bookmarks or something
Writing stuff down with pen and paper is an objectively better way to remember things then digital files, also way more secure unless you really, really know what you're doing.
Well considering he chose to use a pyro-mechanical firearm, instead of things like social/political/legal/economical tools to accomplish his goal, seems to check out lol
The last major American privacy law, the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act was passed in 1988 by Reagan. The only reason it happened is that politicians realized that their privacy was affected. Robert Bork was going through his Supreme Court confirmation hearings and someone got a hold of the tapes he had rented and published them.
Politicians were worried about their own personal privacy, so they passed a new law to protect the privacy of people's video tape rentals.
Maybe the fact that the targets here were politicians will mean that something will happen with data privacy, for once.
They'll pass a law that only benefits them. Our data will still all be up for grabs.
Some sites already do this. Lexisnexis won't remove all of your info unless you're a government official, police officer, or have a police report about a threat against you. Absolute bullshit and should be illegal.
the country has been for decades, why not your data?
Probably not.
Never heard that story before.
It's where the term borked comes from
The suspect faces several charges of second-degree murder.
This baffles me. Looking up your fucking victim's addresses isn't enough evidence of premeditation to qualify for first-degree charges?
That’s a charge that’s guaranteed, and may be all they need to achieve the outcome of him going away forever. They’re also free to charge him with more things, once the investigation finds more evidence
In Minnesota, a grand jury is required for first degree. This is just a placeholder charge until they can get a jury.
That's what I figured after thinking about it, that there had to be some procedural reason for it.
If he was left-wing, this would be prosecuted (and propagandized by the media) as terrorism.
As a non American, wtf happened with that dude that almost killed trump? I feel like I heard about the whole thing when it happened, but it kinda just went away and I’m not even sure what that guy’s deal was. Maybe because we didn’t get all the headlines in Canada, but it certainly felt like it was brushed under a rug to me.
Seems like there was more reporting on their clothing choice than on the person themselves.
he wouldve been charged already, much like with mr luigi was. since he targeted the protected ":class"
Which, funnily enough, would also qualify the murders as first-degree under Minnesota state law: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609.185
He's white.
Luigi is white and they’re trying to send him to the gallows.
I think him being conservative is the factor here.
Although I agree if he weren’t white he would be treated way worse…
If the Nazis stay in power long enough, they'll revert Irish and Italian people back to non-white
IMO nothing to do with the murderer, all to do with the targets. If the assassin was a black conservative dude popping off perceived liberals/Democrats/socialist/antifa/any other word it would be the same. If the dude was a white conservative and was shooting at perceived Republican/Nationalist/fascist/bootlickers/bigots and or billionaires, straight to the gulag.
If they own houses that is public info.
While true, the lookup is the address to the owner, not the other way around. Compiling the information to show querying by person should be illegal.
My county lets you search property tax records by owner name. It is trivial to find someone.
But did you think about the shareholders
You can find out someone's home address from their email address. These brokers are out of control.
It's insane how many there are. I've been using Experian to find and remove my info from these sites and there are literally hundreds it's done so far.
I guarantee you none of your data is actually deleted. Experian is a surveillance capitalism data broker. They're selling both the virus and the snake oil to "cure" it.
I'm only talking about those scummy sites that have your info if you web search your own name. Corporations have been buying and selling my info for decades, at this point.
Crazy crowdfunding idea - what if we bought the whole thing and individually requested delisting for everyone?