Your personal information is out there on a number of public websites. Names, relatives, ex-husbands and wives, birth dates, even your address is easily found online.
The big question is -- can you remove it?
Websites like Spokeo and MyLife.com were a couple of the most revealing.
MyLife.com has a toll free number to call, (888) 704-1900. 13 Action News Anchor Dayna Roselli called and asked to get her profile taken down. The customer service rep said she could delete Roselli's whole profile and also provided a confirmation number.
On Spokeo, the site actually provided a satellite image of where people live as well as a profile page featuring personal information. You can paste the profile page link into their removal page, enter an email and follow the link to a confirmation page that says it will be deleted in 2-3 days.
PeopleSmart.com was similar and it said the update would be reflected in 72 hours.
For Roselli, the listings were removed. Going through these steps only took about 20 minutes.
You may want to take an extra 5 minutes and create a new email address first, so you don't enter one that you currently use, just in case it results in advertisement emails.
Links to get your information removed from these sites:
MyLife.com: call (888) 704-1900
