For years, you could remove personal information from the internet by finding a data broker or people-search site and filing an opt-out request. Artificial intelligence has turned that process on its head.

“AI gives personal data a longer lifespan,” said Kalleigh Lane, managing editor at All About Cookies. “It can be copied and used to build new profiles quickly, with no indication of where they went.”

Automated systems can collect public records, commercial data and information disclosed online, then connect details from separate databases. You might remove a listing, only to see it return through another source. Deletion requests still move one company at a time across most of the United States.

Americans understand that something is wrong, even if they are unsure what to do about it. In a June 2026 survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by All About Cookies , 92% said having their personal information online caused them at least some anxiety.

More than two-thirds felt they had little or no control over what was available.

Data Collection Is Instant Why A Successful Removal May Not Last Exposed Data Is Valuable To Scammers Privacy Rights Stop At State Lines What Responsible AI Governance Requires

Data Collection Is Instant

Data brokers have built consumer profiles for decades. AI allows companies to do that work faster and across much larger collections.

The Federal Trade Commission has warned that technological advances can make it “less burdensome and less expensive” for companies to collect and process vast swathes of data through third parties, machine learning, and AI.

According to a recent survey from my company, Prosper Insights & Analytics , 61% of U.S. adults were extremely or very concerned that AI would violate their privacy by using their data. Only 13% were not concerned at all.

Nearly one-third said AI needs more disclosure or transparency about the data it uses.

A name pulled from a public record can be linked to other identifiers, sold or added to a model-training dataset. By the time a consumer asks for deletion, the record may exist across several systems well outside the original collector’s control.

AI makes it even more complicated because it can make predictions about people based on the data it collects, including details like their interests, income, or purchasing habits. So, a company may delete the original information it collected about you but keep the profile its AI created from it.

Why A Successful Removal May Not Last

The All About Cookies survey found that 32% of Americans tried to remove personal information themselves. Only 9% had used a data removal service, and the process is imperfect even with the extra help.

Lee W. McKnight, an associate professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, described removal in the All About Cookies report as “an ongoing process rather than a one-time fix.”

In other words, it’s the world’s worst game of whack-a-mole. One listing disappears, only for the same information to surface on another site. While removal services can contact legitimate data brokers and people-search sites, they can’t erase public records or recover information from criminals.

Another problem is AI training. Deleting a source file does not show whether a derivative dataset still contains the information or whether the model can reproduce it. Companies need to decide what deletion covers before consumers begin asking that question.

Exposed Data Is Valuable To Scammers

The consequences go well beyond advertising. In the All About Cookies survey, 62% of respondents said they had received a scam or phishing attempt that used accurate personal details available online. Another 34% had received unwanted calls from debt collectors or lawyers, while 21% reported harassment by strangers or identity theft or fraud.

“Accurate personal details are what make a scam feel believable,” Lane said. “It can lower your guard.”

Generative AI lets scammers turn a few facts into a convincing message without hours of research, too, with AI-generated text and audio making it possible to adapt the same operation for more people.

A phone number, employer or relative’s name then becomes the beginning of a personalized approach to scamming you. Removal cannot undo fraud that has occurred, but it can leave less material for the next attempt.

Privacy Rights Stop At State Lines

The United States has no comprehensive federal law that gives every consumer the right to ask all data brokers to delete personal information. Existing protections vary by state.

California has gone furthest toward reducing the work placed on individuals. Its Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform lets residents send one request to more than 600 registered data brokers. Brokers began processing requests in August 2026 and must check the system at least once every 45 days. Oregon, Texas and Vermont also require registration. Connecticut’s newer framework phases in through 2027.

These laws have differing definitions and exemptions. Consumers are left with rights that change at state lines, although the companies trading their information operate nationwide.

According to the same Prosper Insights & Analytics survey, 28% of U.S. adults said AI needs government regulation. That figure rose to 39% among Boomers.

What Responsible AI Governance Requires

Companies need a clear answer for data used by AI systems. Policies should address training datasets, model outputs that reveal personal information and inferences connected to an identifiable person.

Consumers should also know what was removed and how to challenge an incomplete response.

Organizations need to know where personal data came from and where it went. Enforcing retention limits would reduce the number of old copies they need to track. Vendor contracts should define deletion duties and require confirmation when requests are completed.

The current system requires individuals to keep pace with automated data collection by filing hundreds of separate forms — an impossible task. California’s single-request platform offers a more workable approach, and federal rules could give consumers the same baseline rights nationwide.

AI has accelerated how personal data is collected, connected and reused. Deletion has not kept pace. Until it catches up, consumers will never have real control.

Disclosure: My company, Prosper Insights & Analytics , conducted the consumer sentiment study referenced above. This is the same dataset used by the National Retail Federation, and available from Amazon Web Services, Bloomberg, and the London Stock Exchange Group for economic benchmarking .