Book excerpt: Have you ever run yourself on the Internet, either in a search engine or a database, and had all your personal identifying information come up. Information that may show up could include your name, home address, home phone number, birth date and social security number. Did you ever wonder how that information got there and why they have your date of birth and social security number? Did you know there are things you do on a daily basis that puts your personal identifying information into publicly available information sources? It could be something as simple as ordering pizza and having it delivered to your house, filling out a credit application or having your creditor sell your personal information. This book will explain the difference between public record and publicly available information. It will also explain the ways your information gets released and how it ends up on the Internet. This is an information sharing industry that most people are not even aware exists. There are steps, described as the protection process, which can be taken to help you start protecting your personal identifying information from being released. There may be times when you can not stop your information from being released, but there are things you can do to control what information is released. Anyone who has a desire to protect their personal identifying information and their family members’ information from being released and made available on the Internet will benefit from learning about the protection process. This step by step guide was created with two objectives in mind; the first, heightening your awareness on the sale and release of your personal identifying information and the second, providing you with strategies you can implement to start protecting yourself and your family.