this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2026
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Privacy

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Moving and keeping home addy private? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 1 month ago by FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
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I'm sorry, this topic is kinda USA centric. At least the details. Maybe not the core idea though. For the non-USA readers, KYC = know your customer.

I am soon to move to a new home for a job xfer. I wish I could do it privately. I had a stalker who broke into my home. I am still apprehensive and tense even though it was years ago. It feels impossible to move privately ๐Ÿ˜ 

I know about Michael Bazzel's Privacy books, and I have read over them. They are good and I follow his advize for some things. I still feel overwhelmed and don't think I can manage it by myself. One problem is, the last edition of the Privacy book was years ago. KYC is in many more places now. Like utilities and services you need when moving to a new home. I run into more things that demand a copy of a gov photo ID or they will not give you a service. This data makes toward the credit bureaus, they always learn. It used to be you could pay for utilities from an LLC, but that often triggers a KYC check now and sometimes they want to copy your ID.

I already try to fight my addy appearing in people search sites but that is hard. There are so many of them. Some outside the USA and do not follow takedown requests.

There must be ways to do this! Maybe they are only available to the rich and famous? I am not rich or famous, lol. But I am middle class and would spend a moderate sum for a service to handle this. I do not feel I can do it on my own. Maybe I could years ago before so many attacks on privacy, but no more.

Has anyone successfully moved AND kept a new home addy private from data brokers? Did you use a service or company to help?

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[โ€“] nottelling@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've managed it. My name and personals no longer show up in any of the search engines, and based on reports haven't been in any known data brokers for over a year.

Applying for credit/housing shouldn't get you listed anywhere. That's in theory legally private.

  1. Delete your socials. All of them. Recreate any you might need with falsified info. especially LinkedIn. Once you've got a job, disable your profile.
  2. I pay a service too to opt me out of data brokers. They send a report every quarter. This is double edged, since you have to give that company a lot of personal info, so use a less sketchy one.
  3. Freeze all your credit reports. Unfreeze for 24 hours when you need credit, then freeze it again.
  4. if you own a house, contact the county records, tell them to remove you from public listings.
  5. Any junk mail you get, run through their opt out process.
  6. Go through your Internet history, start deleting your accounts.
  7. Google yourself regularly and contact any hosts with a hit to demand they remove you. (or have your data service do it for you). do this on multiple search engines.

It's taken about 6 years, but aside from one Instagram post from a motorcycle dealer who's been ignoring me, I'm virtually invisible.

[โ€“] FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Thank you for this. I am glad to hear you had success!

I do most of those, but not so far number 4.

I don't know about utilities though. I believe that my current power company sells their customer lists, because I get junk mail at a misspelling of my name on file with them.

Did you have any trouble with moving companies? I didn't move since the "surveillance economy". It is hard for me to imagine moving companies wouldn't capitalize on selling your new address where they had to deliver.

I have also heard that it is better not to file a change of address form with the post office. Instead to change the address on file with your charge card companies or banks directly.

[โ€“] nottelling@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Check with your utilities, there's often an opt-out option for the information sales.

I've always moved myself, but I'd just find a locally owned moving company willing to deal in cash. It's good advice for most stuff. avoid online forms, and there are a lot of instances where you can just use false info.

The only reason to change your address with the PO is forwarding. if you're worried about missing mail, you should change it. Then go to the DMA Choice site and opt out with your new information. Update your actual business info with each company.

I use an app called PaperKarma to aromatically opt me out of junk mail that comes through. they do a reasonably good job, but they're a subscription service, so I save up the junk, pay on sub cycle, process the opt outs and then cancel.

I forgot to mention, I also pay for a masking service for masked emails and phone numbers. The free burner options tend to be blocked these days.

What this takes is just diligence and patience.

There's also some misinformation in this thread:

Banks, utilities, even government and health agencies sell your personal data without your knowledge and to any single one of them your home address isn't necessarily "protected or sensitive" information.

Partially false. These industries, especially government and healthcare are regulated and can only sell a certain subset of your data, mostly anonymized, if at all. I work in the government IT sector, and PII is serious, even under the current trump nightmare.

[โ€“] brownmustardminion@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Difficulty level: Nearly impossible.

Even if you buy the house in a trust and have an attorney list his name for all utilities and have packages and mail delivered to a PO box, there's a thousand other tracking vectors that will eventually tie your name to your home and most of them are completely out of your control.

You would need to have a car without a cellular modem, not use a cellphone, and most importantly never tell any friends or family your home address and never allow any friends and family inside your home.

My entire extended family knows how I am about my privacy and yet someone still thought it would be fun to sign me up for a planting magazine with my full legal name and new address.

Banks, utilities, even government and health agencies sell your personal data without your knowledge and to any single one of them your home address isn't necessarily "protected or sensitive" information.

Friends and family will be so excited for you and optimistically update your address in there phone book. A month later they download some candy crush clone game and give it permission to access contacts. Boom you're compromised.

Normally I hate blackpilled takes like this, but sadly this is the one aspect of privacy that at least in the US is essentially impossible.

[โ€“] relic4322@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I have to second this. Even if none of that was true, they find you through the "you shaped hole" in the lives of the ppl around you. That's the best you can hoped for IMO

[โ€“] FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

Friends and family will be so excited for you and optimistically update your address in there phone book.

Oh yes! I have experienced this already! They put it in their contacts and then every sketch weather app and recipe app scrapes it. My friends are kind and well meaning, but hey have no idea how the information economy works. They do not understand how much data they are giving away about themselves but abotu me too!

have an attorney list his name for all utilities

That is what Michel Bazzel talks about too in his book, but it seems like this is difficult to find someone to do that. And it makes other kinds of things difficult too, if the residence is not tied to your name. I have had cases where I had to supply a "utility bill" tying my real name to my residence, in order to get some other kind of service I needed, or part of KYC.

I fear you are right about the difficulty of this. I don't think it is exactly impossible. But very difficult, for sure!

[โ€“] doodoo_wizard@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 month ago

You live in America and consider yourself middle class. You have been targeted by an individual before and want to feel safe and secure.

Buy a gun and become licensed to carry it concealed.