Google search might be sharing your home address. Here’s how to stop it

Before the internet, phonebooks let you look up the names, addresses, and phone numbers of just about anyone. But you had to be local to find that information. Nowadays that’s no longer the case. Anyone in the world can see where you live and what your phone number is plus your age, birthdate, email address, and other personal information—and it only takes a simple, fast Google search.

Google doesn’t share the details directly. Rather, it lists results from data broker sites that collect your data, then sell it.