Nearly 3 out of 4 medical doctors  potentially exposed on people search sites

As the trend of violence directed against medical workers becomes more prominent¹, researchers at Incogni set out to check what, if any, role people search sites play in exacerbating the vulnerability of medical professionals. 

According to a literature review by Nelsen et al., 2015², between 1% and 25% of physicians reported having been stalked, with certain specializations reporting higher rates (e.g., surgeons and OB-GYN doctors). Besides direct safety considerations, it’s important to also consider the psychological distress this causes.

To shed some light on the situation, Incogni’s researchers focused on a subset of medical doctors in some of the largest hospitals in the US and checked if their personal information was exposed on so-called people search sites (PSS)—data brokers that specialize in the aggregation and monetization of consumers’ personally identifiable information (PII). 

Key insights

• 71.9% of the medical doctors under examination had their information exposed on at least one people search site.
• Only 3% of the investigated doctors in the initial sample had their personal data protected well enough to make their inclusion in the study sample impossible—in other words, only 24 out of 768 doctors had insufficient PII available to perform a PSS scan.
• Broadly, the younger a doctor is, the less likely they are to be exposed, with 66% of Millennials, 77% of Baby Boomers, and 83% of the older generations being exposed.
• Nevada and New Mexico had all their investigated medical professionals exposed on people search sites, followed by New York came in third with 93% of department heads exposed.
• Alaska, Illinois, and Oklahoma were the least likely to be exposed, with 43%, 46%, and 50% of medical professionals being exposed, respectively. 
• Among the most common data points found were: emails and phone numbers, relatives and spouses, current addresses, and properties and assets. Very often, more information on each individual was available behind a paywall.

Overview of findings

Incogni’s researchers found and investigated a total of 768 medical doctors working in some of the biggest hospitals in the US. 

They were unable to find even basic information for 24 of these individuals, meaning they couldn’t check whether their personal information was exposed on PSS. This suggests only 3% of medical professionals are sufficiently protected.

Of the 744 doctors investigated  Incogni’s researchers were able to check, 71.9% likely had their information exposed. 

Of further interest are the levels of exposure these healthcare professionals experienced. 39.7% of investigated doctors were exposed on 5 or more people search sites, while 26% were exposed on 10 or more PSS. Having personal information available on one site can be damaging enough, but the more places such information is available, the higher the risk of it being found. 

Incogni’s researchers were also able to glean some insights based on demographic information.

Gender and the availability of MDs’ personal information

Of the 744 investigated medical professionals for which the researchers had enough basic information to search for on PSS, 229 were women and 515 were men.

The findings show a relatively small difference between the genders, with 72% of female medical doctors being exposed compared to 75% of their male counterparts. 

Incogni’s researchers also noted that women were less likely to be exposed on multiple people search sites. 38% of female doctors and 43% of male doctors were exposed on 5 or more PSS. 

23% of women and 29% of men in the sample had a very high degree of exposure, having personally identifiable information (PII) available on 10 or more PSS. 

Age and the availability of MDs’ personal information

Of the medical professionals researchers looked up on people search sites, 52 were Millennials, 278 were Gen X, and 222 were Baby Boomers or older.

Based on the findings, the younger the doctor, the less likely they are to be exposed. 66% of Millennials likely had their information available on at least one PSS. A significantly higher proportion of Gen X doctors, 74%, likely had their information available on at least one people search site. Baby Boomers and older doctors (from the Silent and Greatest generations) were exposed at a slightly higher rate than Gen X, with 77% and 83%, respectively, likely being exposed on PSS.

A possible explanation for older doctors being more likely to be exposed on PSS is that older people have had more opportunities to generate personal data (through various voter registrations, property records, marriage records, etc.) that people search sites use to create profiles. 

With seniors already being the target of numerous scams³, exposure rates of around 75% are a cause for concern, not only regarding physicians’ safety but also their exposure to scams and other criminal activity. 

Location and the availability of MDs’ personal information

Not wanting to disclose too much information regarding which hospitals were included in the study (citing safety concerns), Incogni’s researchers limited the precision of location information to the state level. What follows is a state-level summary of the exposure rates under examination.

For several states, researchers were only able to find a handful of doctors working at larger hospitals. Very low or very high exposure rates for these states may result from inadequate sample sizes. Refer to the methodology section for more information. 

Nevada and New Mexico had all investigated medical professionals exposed on PSS. 

New York came in third with 93% of doctors exposed, and New Jersey, Nebraska, and North Carolina were tied for fourth with 92% of doctors exposed. 

Medical doctors in hospitals in Alaska, Illinois, and Oklahoma were the least likely to be exposed, with exposure rates of 43%, 46%, and 50%, respectively. 

Open Records Acts and other state legislative decisions are likely to play a role in what personal information is easily accessible to data brokers and people search sites.

The kinds of data that were found to be exposed on PSS

To underscore the impact of having personal information available on people search sites, Incogni’s researchers looked up what data the PSS that were found to hold the data of the greatest numbers of medical doctors claimed to have.

Understanding what types of information are exposed can clarify the vulnerabilities that data brokers like PSS create.

Incogni’s researchers found that the people search sites that likely held the most medical doctors’ data all claimed to collect:

• Basic contact information, such as emails and phone numbers
• Lists of relatives and spouses
• Current addresses
• Legal judgements and criminal records
• Properties and assets.

Some of them also claim to have access to people’s:

• Education and occupation histories
• Social media profiles
• Photos.

It’s important to emphasize that many of the data points presented above are available to anyone, without payment. More information, often very sensitive, may be available behind a paywall. Trial memberships are often available for as little $1.

Of course, there are many reasons why having information like this accessible is highly problematic, but some issues in particular are highlighted in the academic literature.⁴ Seeing how many medical professionals experience stalking and other types of harassment, the availability of information on PSS regarding their relatives and current addresses becomes even more concerning.

Conclusion

The degree to which hospital department heads were found to be exposed on people search sites is a cause for concern. In a climate of political division and distrust, and against a background of escalating political violence, broader questions arise around data brokers (of which PSS are merely the most visible representatives) and their impact on medical professionals’ safety in general.

Over 8 in 10 nurses, for example, have experienced workplace violence within the past year, with nearly half reporting an increase in workplace violence in their units between 2023 and 2024.⁵ More broadly, healthcare and social-assistance workers “experienced the highest counts and annualized incidence rates for workplace violence of any private industry sector over the two-year period from 2021–2022.”⁶

Data brokers (especially people search sites) exacerbate the dangers facing medical professionals by making comprehensive dossiers of personal information available to virtually anyone motivated enough to seek them out. Medical doctors working as department heads  at major hospitals may constitute only a subset of all medical professionals, but data brokers don’t discriminate: they collect, process, and disseminate potentially harmful information on not only rank-and-file medical workers, but everyday citizens as well.

Methodology

In order to begin a study of the potential impact that people search sites have on the privacy and safety of medical professionals in the United States, Incogni’s researchers focused on department heads, whose personal information is available on the websites of the largest hospitals in each state.

Frequently, though, the largest hospital in a given state did not have a list of department heads publicly available. In such cases, the largest hospital in the given state that did have such roles listed was included in the sample instead. 

The list of department heads was created on October 31st, 2025. Incogni’s researchers then sought out minimal information so that they could check these healthcare professionals against PSS records. Using the Incogni exposure scanner, they checked whether the department heads were available on over 400 people search sites.

For every individual data point they used to query the PSS—name, surname, age, city, and state—a match ranking in the range 1–100 was assigned. In cases where personal details were found to be a partial match, such as spelling variations or a slight difference in age, the match ranking for that data point fell below 100. The algorithm then determined a match ranking for every data point based on the magnitude of the difference between a query and its potential match. The match rankings for every data point were then averaged and presented as an overall match ranking, expressed as a percentage. For this study, we chose 75% as the match probability at which we deemed a department head to be likely discoverable on people search sites.

Notes on data:
Several states—Iowa, Kansas, Montana, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Hawaii—had 5 or fewer department heads that could be checked for exposure on PSS, meaning that these states’ rates of exposure may be distorted by small sample sizes. 

Public data:
Due to the nature of this study, Incogni’s research team has decided not to share their research materials.

Sources

1. McCartney, Jim. “Violence Escalates against Surgeons and Other Healthcare Workers.” American College of Surgeons, October 9, 2024. https://www.facs.org/for-medical-professionals/news-publications/news-and-articles/bulletin/2024/october-2024-volume-109-issue-9/violence-escalates-against-surgeons-and-other-healthcare-workers/.
2. Nelsen, Andrea J., R. Scott Johnson, Britta Ostermeyer, Kristi A. Sikes, and John H. Coverdale. “The Prevalence of Physicians Who Have Been Stalked: A Systematic Review.” Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 43, no. 2 (2015): 177–182. https://jaapl.org/content/43/2/177.
3. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “Elder Fraud.” How We Can Help You. Accessed November 28, 2025. https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/elder-fraud.
4. Bulut, Sefa, Ali Cissy Usman, and Thseen Nazir. “Stalking of Healthcare Professionals by Their Clients: The Prevalence, Motivation, and Effect.” Open Journal of Medical Psychology 10 (2021): 27–35. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojmp.2021.102003.
5. National Nurses United. “NNU report shows increased rates of workplace violence experienced by nurses.” Press release. Last modified February 5, 2024. https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/nnu-report-shows-increased-rates-of-workplace-violence-experienced-by-nurses.
6. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Workplace Violence 2021 – 2022.” Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities. Last modified October 8, 2024. https://www.bls.gov/iif/factsheets/workplace-violence-2021-2022.htm.
   

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