LEXINGTON, Ky. — A program through the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office is allowing victims of domestic violence to wipe their personal info from the web.
Participants in Kentucky’s Safe at Home program have access to DeleteMe, a privacy information removal service for free. The service finds and removes personally identifiable information being collected and sold to data brokers without permission.
Executive director of domestic violence shelter, GreenHouse 17, Darlene Thomas said this service will be useful.
“It’s extremely helpful for survivors to be able to remove from the internet their contact information,” Thomas said.
Thomas said now more than ever, technology and social media are used to harass, intimidate and locate victims of domestic violence.
“I would say probably 60% of who we serve have had to change or quit any social media and have tried to block all accounts and all numbers, tracking devices,” Thomas said.
Personally identifiable information is collected and sold by data brokers from public and private sources. Most people might not think twice about where their information is stored, but for victims fleeing an abuser, having that info accessible puts them at risk. That’s where DeleteMe comes in.
Secretary of State Michael Adams, R-Ky., said data brokers make a living collecting data, while it’s legal, he said it’s problematic for someone trying to not be found.
“Through DeleteMe they approach these brokers on our behalf with these individuals’ information. They get it scrubbed,” Adams said.
It’s the latest effort by Adams’s office to protect survivors after removing victims’ addresses from voter rolls and other public documents. DeleteMe cost the office $10,000, and it’s funded by criminals and abusers themselves. It is free to anyone in the state’s Safe at Home program. Regularly, it costs money.
“In Kentucky if you’re convicted of certain violent offenses and sex offenses and you’re fined by the court that money comes to us so we have a restricted fund for that money and we use that money to pay for all of the Safe at Home stuff so bad guys are paying to protect people from the bad guys,” Adams said.
Thomas said as it has evolved, and continues to change, technology has become a major tool for abusers.
“It can be a wonderful tool for many of us, but if people are trying to harm you or find you, intimidate you, ruin your reputation, continuing to want to harass the internet and social media is a great instrument,” Thomas said.
Adams said they’ve already removed thousands of people’s information online via DeleteMe.