Resources
I believe your personal data is yours to own and protect. I built Clearfront, a free, open-source tool for scanning and scrubbing your own digital footprint from public data, and I write here about OSINT, breach exposure, and personal privacy.
Scott
clearfront founder
Guides, prompts, workflows and walkthroughs for finding and shrinking your digital footprint, checking your breach exposure, and running your own OSINT.
Your digital footprint
What you expose, how to see it, and how to shrink it.
- How to Check Your Digital Footprint: A Self-OSINT WalkthroughJune 30, 2026 · 8 min read
Audit your own digital footprint in about an hour, for free, using the five OSINT passes a security analyst would run on you. Step by step, with the shortcut.
- How to Check Your Digital Footprint in the UK (Self-OSINT)June 22, 2026 · 8 min read
The UK self-audit uses different records than the US one: the electoral register, 192.com, Companies House, the Land Registry. Here is the UK walkthrough.
- Is Your Face Searchable? Reverse Image and Face-Search OSINTJune 21, 2026 · 6 min read
Face-search engines can find your photos across the web from a single headshot. Here is how they work, what they find, the PimEyes facts, and how to opt out.
- What Google Knows About You (and How to See and Delete It)June 17, 2026 · 6 min read
Google records what you search, watch, and where you go, and gives you the tools to see, delete, and stop most of it. Here is exactly where to look and what to switch off.
- How to Find Every Account Linked to a Username (and Lock Yours Down)June 9, 2026 · 5 min read
One username often maps to accounts across hundreds of sites. Here is how username enumeration works, what it reveals about you, and how to lock it down.
- Reverse Phone Lookup: What Your Phone Number Reveals About YouJune 8, 2026 · 6 min read
Your phone number links more of your accounts than you think. Here is what a reverse phone lookup reveals, how to check if your number leaked, and how to cut the exposure.
- What Is Doxxing, and How Do You Protect Yourself?June 5, 2026 · 6 min read
Doxxing is publishing someone private information to harass them, mostly assembled from public data. Here is how it works, whether it is illegal, and how to defend yourself.
- How to Remove Your Personal Information From Google SearchJune 4, 2026 · 6 min read
Google has two tools for getting your personal information out of search results, plus one limitation to understand first: removal hides a page, it does not delete it.
- Reverse Email Lookup: What Your Email Address Reveals About YouJune 2, 2026 · 5 min read
Your email is a master key to your online life. Here is what a reverse email lookup surfaces about you, why attackers start there, and how to cut the exposure.
- What Your Photos Reveal: Metadata, EXIF, and Location DataMay 30, 2026 · 6 min read
A photo can carry the GPS coordinates of where it was taken. Here is what EXIF metadata reveals, whether platforms strip it, and how to remove it before you share.
- How to Reduce Your Digital Footprint: 6 Steps That Actually WorkMay 28, 2026 · 7 min read
You cannot fully erase your digital footprint, but you can shrink it a lot. Here are the six steps that actually work, in the order that gets the most result.
- What Is a Digital Footprint? Active vs Passive, and Whether You Can Erase ItMay 19, 2026 · 6 min read
A digital footprint is every trace of you in public data. Here are the two kinds, what yours exposes, and the honest answer to whether you can delete it.
Remove your data
Getting your details off data brokers and search results.
- How to Hide Your Home Address on Companies HouseJune 27, 2026 · 5 min read
If you ran a company, your home address may be public on Companies House. Here is how to suppress it with form SR01, and what the new identity checks mean.
- How to Find Out Which Data Brokers Have Your Information (and Remove It)June 25, 2026 · 7 min read
Data brokers sell your address, age, and relatives to anyone. Here is how to find which ones list you, opt out of the ones that matter, and use new laws that help.
- How to Remove Your Details From 192.com and the Open RegisterJune 24, 2026 · 6 min read
Getting off 192.com takes two steps: remove the listing and opt out of the open electoral register that feeds it. Here is exactly how to do both, free.
Breaches and exposure
Checking whether your accounts and passwords have leaked.
- 24 Billion Records Just Leaked. Here Is How to Check If Yours Are In It.July 6, 2026 · 5 min read
A June 2026 dump exposed around 24 billion credential records. Here is what was in it, how to check if your data is included, and the 15-minute response.
- How to Respond to a Data Breach: The Step-by-Step ChecklistJune 18, 2026 · 6 min read
A company lost your data, or a checker flagged your email. Here is the response that actually protects you, in order, based on official FTC guidance.
- Free and Open-Source Have I Been Pwned Alternatives (2026)June 16, 2026 · 6 min read
Have I Been Pwned is the standard, but not the only option. Here are the free and open-source breach-check tools, how they work, and where each one fits.
- How to Secure Your Accounts: Passwords, 2FA, and PasskeysJune 13, 2026 · 7 min read
Most account takeovers come down to weak passwords, missing two-factor, and phishing. Here is how to fix all three, based on current NIST and FIDO Alliance guidance.
- How Attackers Turn Your Public Footprint Into a Phishing AttackJune 12, 2026 · 6 min read
Your public information fuels the two attacks most likely to hit you: a convincing phishing email and a password guessed from an old breach. Here is how, with the numbers.
OSINT and Clearfront
The tradecraft, and how to run it yourself with the tool.
- AI Agents Can Build a Dossier on You From One Username. Here Is What They Find.July 3, 2026 · 6 min read
Given a single username, an AI OSINT agent can chain tools and assemble a profile in minutes. Here is how it works, what it finds, and how to harden your footprint.
- How to Prompt Clearfront AI Security Analyst (and Pivot Like an Investigator)June 20, 2026 · 6 min read
Clearfront is driven by an AI security analyst that picks its own tools. Here is how to prompt it well, pivot through the evidence graph, and read the report.
- Getting Started With Clearfront: Install It and Run Your First ScanMay 26, 2026 · 5 min read
Clearfront is a free, open-source footprint scanner that runs on your own machine. Here is how to install it and run your first scan, start to finish.
- The Best Free OSINT Tools in 2026May 24, 2026 · 8 min read
A working list of the free OSINT tools actually worth using in 2026, grouped by what they do, with an honest note on which are truly free and which gate the good parts.
- What Is OSINT? A Beginner's Guide to Open-Source IntelligenceMay 22, 2026 · 7 min read
OSINT is finding things out from information that is already public. Here is what it is, how the four stages work, why it is legal, and the free tools to start with.
UK privacy and your rights
UK-specific removal, surveillance, and data-protection rights.
- UK Police Facial Recognition: Where It Is and What the Law SaysJuly 7, 2026 · 7 min read
UK police scan faces in public with live facial recognition, yet no law specifically authorizes it. Here is where it is deployed, the Bridges ruling, and your rights.
- Are Flock Cameras Tracking UK Drivers? What ANPR Actually DoesJuly 5, 2026 · 6 min read
Flock cameras are a US surveillance story. In the UK the cameras reading your number plate are the national ANPR network. Here is what it records and your rights.
- Is UK Age Verification Safe? What Happens to Your ID and Face ScanJuly 4, 2026 · 6 min read
UK age checks often mean uploading ID or a face scan to a third party. Here is how age verification works, the real privacy risks, and how to spot a safe check.
- Is the UK Actually Banning VPNs? What Is True and What Is NotJuly 2, 2026 · 5 min read
No, the UK is not banning VPNs and using one is legal. Here is what is actually happening, why the confusion started, and what it means if you use a VPN.
- The UK Under-16 Social Media Ban, Explained for ParentsJuly 1, 2026 · 7 min read
The UK has announced a social media ban for under-16s and new defaults for 16 and 17-year-olds. It is not law yet. Here is what was announced and when.
- Who Can Find Out Who Owns Your House in the UK?June 29, 2026 · 5 min read
For a few pounds, anyone can look up who owns a UK property and what they paid. Here is what property records expose, what you can and cannot hide, and how to guard against fraud.
- How to Get Your Data Deleted in the UK (Erasure and Google Delisting)June 28, 2026 · 6 min read
UK erasure rights delete your data at source; Google delisting only hides a page from name searches. Here is how each works and why you need both.
- How to Make a Subject Access Request in the UKJune 26, 2026 · 5 min read
A subject access request forces any UK organization to hand over the personal data it holds on you, free, within one month. Here is how to send one.
- How to Complain About a Company Misusing Your Data (New 2026 UK Right)June 23, 2026 · 7 min read
From 19 June 2026 you can complain directly to any organization about how it handles your data, and it must acknowledge you within 30 days. Here is how.