Your data has been exposed. This is what you do about it.

Between the 2026 Social Security Administration data exposure, ongoing social platform breaches, and AI tools trained on scraped personal information, most Americans have no idea how much of their identity is already in circulation. You cannot un-expose data that's already out there — but you can shut the doors fraudsters use to turn that data into stolen money, fake accounts, and impersonation attacks.

This six-page checklist is built for individuals and small business owners who want to take back control without spending a fortune or hiring a consultant. Every step is concrete. Most are free. None require technical expertise.

What's inside:

The checklist is organized by urgency, so you know exactly what to do first.

Do These Today covers the five steps that shut the front door on the most common identity fraud attempts — freezing your credit at all three bureaus, claiming your my Social Security account before someone else does, requesting an IRS Identity Protection PIN, turning on real-time transaction alerts, and pulling your free federal credit reports. Estimated time: 60–90 minutes. All free.

Do These This Week tightens the windows after the urgent doors are locked — password manager setup, two-factor authentication done correctly, data broker opt-outs, social media privacy audits, Google alerts on your own name, and verifying your medical records.

If You Own a Business adds the second layer solo founders and SMB owners actually need — flagging your EIN with the IRS, locking down your business credit profile at Dun & Bradstreet and the business bureaus, enabling callback verification on your business bank, verifying vendor banking changes the right way, and training your team on the three scams that cause the most six-figure SMB losses.

Make It a Habit turns this from a one-time scramble into a quarterly rhythm, plus a clear action plan if you suspect fraud has already happened.