Reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.?

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams’ office has launched a program to help domestic violence survivors delete their personal identifying information (PII) from the internet.?

Called DeleteMe, the program is a national privacy company that removes personal information from certain online sites. Eligible information includes addresses and phone numbers, said a spokesperson for the office.

The program is available only to the 125 members of the Safe at Home program, which came out of a 2023 law. Safe at Home lets victims of domestic violence hide their addresses when registering to vote without a protective order from a judge. It also allows the state Capitol to be the address on public records and lets those moving from out of state easily join the program.?

“Last year, I extended protections to domestic violence survivors to prevent their information from being displayed on government records,” Adams said in a statement, referring to the Safe at Home program. “This year, I am proud to extend those protections to information that can be found easily online.”

Since informing members about the DeleteMe program on Oct. 1, about 15 participants signed up immediately, said spokeswoman Michon Lindstrom.?

As of Wednesday, she said, “there have been about 800 total listings removed (an average of 51 a person) and 4,500 PII removed (an average of 322 a person).”?

“It works kind of like Rocket Money, where they contact places to cancel your subscription. DeleteMe contacts these data broker sites and requests to have the PII removed,” she explained. “Some (data) are instantly removed but some can take a couple of weeks depending on the site.”?

Safe at Home participants who want to opt in for the DeleteMe program should call or email the secretary of state’s office.?