The introduction of the Internet has made it possible for individuals to find each other no matter the distance, as long as they have any online presence. The heartwarming stories of long-lost friends, family members and lovers reunited through media or people search websites on the Internet has been a positive aspect of the technology. With all things human, there are both good and bad applications. An individual’s online identity can be used to create fake profiles as well as gathering data to steal information to commit crimes. This is one of the reasons the National Cellular Directory has launched a new service called "Erase Yourself from the Web" service.

This free service is designed to help individuals delete their personal information from different phone lookup and people search websites on the Internet.

Whether you know it or not, if your information is publicly available it is most likely being offered by data brokers as a fee service. This includes your phone number, address and other personal information. For savvy criminals this is all they need to initiate an attack that will cost you valuable time and money to rectify if they succeed. Unfortunately for most of us, these data brokers will sell the information to anyone that pays for it.

Just in case you're curious, what they're doing is perfectly legal. What they do is collect public records, provide the latest updates of your whereabouts and sell it, a scary concept when you really think about it.

If you don't want your information on the site of the companies offering the service, legally you can ask them to remove it, but with hundreds of service providers the process can be time-consuming. While some companies have a simple process to accomplish this, others want you to jump through hoops before they remove your data.

That is where the National Cellular Directory comes in with its new “Erase Yourself from the Web" service. If you want your data removed from the largest people search websites all you have to do is fill out the form on the company's website and you will receive an email regarding the process you must complete.  The company finds major people search websites and researches the steps you need to take to remove the information from each of the websites. According to the company all a user has to do is submit the data and execute the steps provided.

The company will then remove your information from each website, where possible. If the site in question doesn't allow the National Cellular Directory to perform the task for you, they will send you detailed instructions on the steps you can take to remove your information from those specific sites.

A portion of the websites the company will attempt to remove your information include: Intelius, Been, Spokeo, People Smart, Zaba Search, Anywho, Search Bug, USA People Search and others.