DeleteMe’s 2026 Data Privacy Predictions for Consumers

Your personal information is everywhere. Every day, data brokers are selling your home address, phone number, and family details to anyone who’ll pay. Meanwhile, AI scams are getting harder to spot. And one breach can snowball into identity theft, stalking, or worse.

This Data Privacy Week, we’re cutting through the noise with our 2026 predictions. What’s coming next? And what can you actually do about it?

Prediction #1 – Doxxing will grow as a means to settle personal and political disputes

Doxing–publishing someone’s home address, phone number, employer or family details–used to be an underground tactic used by digital threat actors. Now it’s a first resort because it’s so easy. 

Last year, organized doxxing campaigns hit political groups, organizations, and law enforcement across the U.S. The barrier to entry? A Google search and a few minutes on data broker sites. 

And it’s not just activists or public figures. Taylor Swift fans have doxxed her critics. TV fandoms doxx each other over disagreements over “shipping,” or which characters belong together till the end of time. The trigger can be as small as a disagreement in a Reddit thread.  

You don’t even have to be particularly controversial to become a target. You just have to be findable. So, it is crucial that you know where your information is exposed, and opt out wherever you can, or use DeleteMe to do it for you. 

Prediction #2 – Online safety and physical safety will increasingly be intertwined

For most people, data privacy used to feel abstract. A leaked email address meant more spam,, not real danger. That’s no longer true. 

When your relationships, workplace, and daily habits are accessible online, the line between digital exposure becomes a physical risk. People are already seeing it happen in the form of  unwanted deliveries at home addresses, photos of their home sent in extortion emails, texts from strangers referencing personal details they never shared. 

Personal data protection isn’t about spam anymore. It’s about timing how easily a stranger can turn information into access. Physical safety is now a primary reason people look for privacy tools–and this will become even so the case in 2026.

Prediction #3 – Deepfakes and synthetic identity threats will rise

Deepfake threats are moving from novelty to weapons, as shown in the above video from All Things Secured.

Voices clones are already tricking people into thinking their relatives are in danger. Image and video deepfakes convince pet owners to pay fake vet bills for injuries that never happened. By the end of 2026 these scams will be everywhere.

What you can do: 

Lock down your photos. Limit social media posts with photos of yourself and your children or pets online. Consider limiting the viewers to friends and family so malicious actors can’t easily get an image to use for a scam. 

Keep the default voicemail greeting. Scammers only need a few seconds of audio to clone your voice. 

Check your relatives’ exposure. Data brokers link family profiles to yours, making grandparents and siblings easy targets for someone impersonating you. 

Prediction #4 – More states will give their residents power to opt out

New state privacy laws are expanding or coming into effect each year, giving more U.S. residents the legal right to demand data brokers remove their personal information. 

If you live in California, Colorado, Washington, or one of the growing number of states with privacy laws, take advantage of all that affords you. These consumer privacy laws often mean data brokers must comply when you ask them to take down your data. 

Of course, data brokers can still make it very hard to submit a request. But the more states adopt these privacy laws, the harder data brokers will have to work to continue exposing your PII online, and the more power you will have to protect yourself. 

Prediction #5 – Age verification will become widespread

If you’ve been asked to scan your face or ID to prove you’re over 18, you’re not alone. 

Age verification is spreading fast, but not without friction with consumers. YouTube’s age verification rollout sparked a backlash. Discord recently suffered a breach exposing users’ IDs, submitted for verification. 

Unfortunately, the age verification measures won’t stop there. Under a growing body of state age verification laws, many more companies will be forced to adopt such measures across markets, likely including OpenAI, as well as Reddit and BlueSky. Everyone in the U.S. could eventually be affected. 

What you can control

If a website requires age verification by law, privacy browsers and ad blockers will not prevent that. And while you can sometimes control how much personal information you share and how long companies keep it, it’s not a reliable privacy solution.

Choosing age-only verification methods when available, ones that confirm your eligibility without handing over your full government ID or biometrics. Age-only verification means if the platform is breached, only your age will be compromised. In this privacy climate, that’s a win. 

Pay attention to data retention policies. Does the platform store your ID indefinitely? Do they delete it after verification? In 2026, protecting privacy means minimizing what you share during age check and holding platforms accountable for what they keep. 

Final Thoughts

It’s not all bad news for data privacy in 2026. More states are paying attention to the growing need for consumer privacy protections, and building real privacy protections. More people are opting out, locking down, saying no, and taking control where they can. 

The best defense in 2026: Know where and how your data lives. Reduce your exposure wherever you can. And, finally, don’t wait to make it urgent.

Learn more:

1. Read our guide to finding out if you can be doxxed online
2. Get more data privacy tips on our blog
3. Try our free scan to see if you’re exposed