There are numerous reasons why your phone number might be online. In this article, we will thoroughly investigate and analyse the primary factors as to why your phone number might be readily available online. By doing so, we hope you can better understand the potential risks online and how to protect your phone number and your personal data from being online.
Online Accounts
If you’ve used your phone number as your primary contact information to create online accounts, whether it is for social media or online shopping, this could be one of the common reasons why your number is online.
In this day and age, which is not necessarily a bad thing, many websites and apps require a phone number for verification or account recovery. As your phone number is usually accessible, this is great for many. With this said, however, it is also a way where if your phone is stolen or people know your number or share it online, you are likely going to face a personal data protection issue.
Data Breaches
It is important to bear in mind that not all platforms adequately protect your personal information. Due to this, many aspects of your personal data, from your name and date of birth to your phone number, may become visible to others. This can be a potential privacy concern and may result in unwanted situations or even identity theft.
Considering the above, it is crucial to regularly review the privacy settings of your online accounts and take steps to enhance your security. Consider using alternative methods of contact or enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) for added protection. By being proactive and mindful of the potential risks, you can better safeguard your personal information and ensure a safer online experience.
Public Records
If you’ve ever signed up to be on a public record, one of such is running your own business, which can be publicly found using your phone number, you should be aware that even if you close your business, your phone number is most likely to remain online. This is due to business-related information being considered a public record.
Certain government agencies, such as tax authorities or licensing boards, may make certain personal information, including phone numbers, publicly available. The purpose of keeping your phone number or the name of your business and who owned it is vital to address tax filings or any business-related issue that could have happened a couple of years before you closed but was raised now.
What to take from this is that you should keep away from using your personal phone number as a business number. While this may be convenient, your phone number can then be indexed by search engines and displayed in search results, further exposing your phone number to potential access by others. Search Engines like Google won’t know the difference between your personal number and business, and as such, it can be challenging to remove the content online. At this point, a new personal phone number would be recommended, but understandably, this can be worrisome.
Conclusion
Taking everything from the above into consideration, it’s essential to thoroughly understand the underlying reasons for the inclusion of your phone number on the Internet. By taking into account a multitude of factors, such as your online footprint (online accounts), instances of data breaches, and the accessibility of public records, we are able to acquire a more profound and comprehensive understanding of the extent to which our personal information becomes susceptible to exposure, as well as the various potential risks that may be associated with such exposure.
Due to this, we have created a service called a Deep Dive. This is a service where we thoroughly conduct a Google Search and on any search engines to see what personal data is out there for your peace of mind. If your number is found, for example, we will report this and inform you of the removal process so that you can manage and protect your personal data online. For queries relating to our deep dive service, please feel free to contact DigitalOx via our contact form.