A TikToker recently shared a clever hack for removing personal info from Amazon package labels.
The video, which now has over 172,000 hits, was originally posted on Sept. 23 by TikTok user TatiLifeHacks (@td_mom_).
In the clip, she squeezes some hand sanitizer onto a label on a package, before wiping it with a cotton pad. Thanks to the alcohol content in the hand sanitizer, the ink vanishes completely, leaving the label blank. “Why didn’t I know about this before?” she questions in an on-screen caption.
One commenter, claiming to work in healthcare, noted, “We do this in hospitals before discarding meds with pts labels on them.”
Another user shared, “Very useful! I’m a reseller and hate having to remove old labels. Now I can just erase them.”
However, other commenters argued such precautions were meaningless with all the information already available on the internet.
“I mean with all the data breaches does it really matter if we do this at this point?” one skeptic commented. Another added, “No one cares about your address enough tho.”
@td_mom_ Use sanitizer to remove personal info from your package #amazon #packages #goodidea ♬ original sound – TatiLifeHacks
Personal info debate on other platforms
The discussion about whether you should be removing personal info from mailing packages isn’t confined to TikTok. On Reddit, one user asked a similar question in a thread titled, “Do you guys cut out your name and address from packages when disposing of them?”
Some Redditors confessed that they initially cut out or blacked out their info but eventually stopped the practice.
Others claimed they prefer to err on the side of caution. “Yes. I cut it out and shred it,” said one user, sharing a personal story. “After seeing what my dad had to go through when someone stole his identity, I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
“Anyone out to run a serious scam is gonna download my name, address, SSN, phone number, email, and all sorts of [stuff] out of any number of leaked databases. Not pick up a damp package out of a pile of trash,” another remarked.
Well, what do security experts say?
Mason Miranda, a credit industry specialist for Credit Card Insider, told Money.com that identity thieves still dig through peoples’ trash to find information like “date of birth, Social Security number, full name, mortgage or rent payments, payment information such as credit card numbers, and passwords and usernames.”
Security experts have recommended shredding your mail to get rid of personal identifying information. “There’s every reason to shred your mail, and no good reason not to” Julie Ryan Evans, a Consumer Editor for SecurityNerd.com, told Money.com.
The Daily Dot has reached out to TatiLifeHacks via TikTok comment.
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