Keep an eye on your own identity: Google Dark Web Report warns of data leaks

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Google is now making its Dark Web Monitoring service free for private accounts. The Dark Web Report can be used to monitor your own identity for data leaks. Until the end of July, the report was only available as part of a paid Google One subscription. The service can now be used in 46 countries with different functions in some cases.

Profile of up to ten email addresses

With Google's Dark Web Report, a profile consisting of up to ten email addresses and other data such as name, date of birth, postal address and up to three telephone numbers can be monitored in one account. The service searches for the specified personal data on the dark web, notifies you of any new results found, including details of the leaked data, and provides recommendations for action for each data breach found.

Data leaks are an issue for almost everyone

When you register your personal data with companies or service providers, for example, your data is stored there and can also be leaked unintentionally or stolen in the event of a cyberattack. Data can also be unintentionally lost by public authorities, institutions or private individuals; data breaches are usually caused by people.

The Dark Web Report was launched in Germany in Google One in mid-August 2023. Google's reason for removing the Dark Web Report from the paid Google One subscription is to make the function available to more Google users. A private Google account is required. The service is not available for Google Workspace accounts and accounts with parental control.

Monitoring your own identity

Despite care, personal data can fall into unauthorized hands and those affected can become (repeat) victims of criminals not only as a result of this, but also through subsequent actions.

In some cases, data from different data leaks is combined and thus enhanced. For example, your email address and a password could be known from one data leak and your email could appear in another data leak with other personal data such as your name, address or IBAN.

There are various free services for monitoring the darknet and your own identity for data leaks. The best-known service is Have I been Pwned, whose database is also used by Firefox Monitor. The Hasso Plattner Institute and the University of Bonn, however, use their own databases for their identity leak checkers.

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