In the endless saga of hacks and data breaches, it’s practically guaranteed that at least some of your personal information is available on the internet. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take steps to remove or protect it wherever you can—including from databases that have a history of being compromised.
National Public Data, a background check company operated by Jerico Pictures Inc., was the target of a massive hack in early 2024, which led to the leak of billions of records containing data (culled from non-public sources) like Social Security numbers.
The site has since returned under new ownership as a “free people search engine” and, while it purports to rely on publicly available information, you still can (and should) remove your records. If nothing else, doing so means one less place that people can easily find your address, phone number, and other personal information.
What happened with National Public Data?
Last year, National Public Data was hacked by a group known as USDoD, which subsequently released a reported 2.7 billion stolen records containing sensitive data from individuals in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Jerico Pictures Inc., was the subject of multiple class-action lawsuits and later filed for bankruptcy, after which it shut down National Public Data.
As PCMag reports, the site has recently resurfaced and is still branded as National Public Data, though it is now registered to a Florida-based company called Perfect Privacy LLC, which provides anonymous domain registration. The page detailing the security breach is still live.
National Public Data now allows you to search information from databases covering everything from bankruptcy to criminal records to voter registration. According to the About Us page, this includes “federal, state, and local government agencies, social media pages, property ownership databases, and other reliable platforms.” You can enter a name, city, and state to pull up records for an individual if they are covered by what National Public Data has access to.
How to remove your records from National Public Data
Even if the information compiled by National Public Data is public somewhere, you should still opt out of having your records included in the site’s search. The rebooted site does allow you to remove your information through an opt-out form.
All you need to do is search for your profile on the site’s main page, copy the URL, paste it into the opt-out form, and click the “Request Removal” button. You’ll then need to provide your email and confirm your request.
