Personal interests leaked: what it means and what to do
Risk level: low. Can you change it: yes. Found in 3 breaches in this directory.
What this data is
Hobbies, topics and preferences you selected or that a service inferred about you, such as fishing, investing, gaming, travel or particular causes, stored for matching or advertising.
The risk on its own
Interests are low risk by themselves. They cannot open accounts, and many are already visible in what you post. The exception is interests that reveal something sensitive, such as religion, sexuality or health, which should be treated as those categories.
The risk combined with other data
With your email address and name, interests tell a scammer which bait to use. An investing interest brings fake trading offers, a gaming interest brings fake skins and giveaways, and a travel interest brings fake flight deals. Romance scammers also use shared interests to build trust quickly.
How criminals use it
Someone listed as interested in investing receives a fake crypto trading platform invitation tailored to that interest.
A gamer receives a phishing link offering free in game items that steals their gaming account login.
A romance scammer claims to share every hobby on your profile to fast track trust.
What to do now
Check whether any listed interest reveals sensitive information such as health, religion or sexuality, and remove it from profiles.
Be extra sceptical of offers that match your hobbies closely, especially giveaways and investment tips.
Review ad preferences in your Google and Facebook account settings and remove interests you do not want used for targeting.
Change the password on the breached account and check whether other fields, like private messages, also leaked.
Frequently asked questions
Is it dangerous that my hobbies leaked?
Usually not. It mainly makes scam messages more tailored. It matters more if an interest reveals something sensitive about you.
Why am I suddenly getting offers about my hobbies?
Interest data is sold and reused for targeting. A breach adds another copy, so treat offers that match you too well with caution.
Can I remove my interests from ad targeting?
Yes. Google and Meta both let you view and remove ad topics in account settings, though that does not affect copies from a breach.
Breaches that exposed this data
Exactis: 2018-06-01, 132M accounts, Credit status information, Dates of birth, Education levels, Email addresses, Ethnicities, Family structure
Paidwork: 2026-03-29, 23M accounts, Bank account numbers, Dates of birth, Device information, Education levels, Email addresses, Financial transactions
Beautiful People: 2015-11-11, 1.1M accounts, Beauty ratings, Car ownership statuses, Dates of birth, Drinking habits, Education levels, Email addresses
Breach data sourced from Have I Been Pwned, used under CC BY 4.0. Additional breach metadata provided by XposedOrNot. DataExposed is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.