Taking It Back — Reclaim Your Personal Data, State by State

"…the triggers that sit quiet in a man for thirty years and then go off in his own kitchen because a speaker said a word."

— What the Machine Remembered

How this started

One smart speaker. One uncomfortable question.

The series began with a single discovery: what a kitchen smart speaker had quietly been collecting, and how little of it had anything to do with what the device actually did. That question — why does it have this, and what do I do about it — became What the Machine Remembered, and then became a promise to answer that question properly for every reader, in their own state.

Twenty states now have a law that gives you the right to see what companies hold on you, correct it, delete it, and opt out of having it sold. Almost nobody uses that right, because almost nobody knows the form, the address, or the deadline. That's what each book in this series hands you directly.

Read the origin story →

The Series

Twenty state field guides. One companion volume.

Each book is built for one state's law — the exact statute, the exact companies, the exact deadlines. One purchase. Unlimited use.

Out now for all twenty states: What the Machine Remembered, digital edition — $3.99. Pick your state →

Indiana

What the Machine Remembered

California

Texas

Virginia

Florida

Rhode Island

Colorado

New Jersey

Oregon

See all twenty states ↓

Virginia · Colorado · Connecticut · Utah · Maryland · Oregon · Delaware · Tennessee · New Jersey · Montana · Minnesota · New Hampshire · California · Florida · Iowa · Nebraska · Kentucky · Rhode Island · Texas · Indiana

Buy it here

What the Machine Remembered — the book the series began with

One question put to a kitchen smart speaker, and everything that followed. Thirty-six pages, plain English, no forms to fill in — the story behind the twenty state field guides.

Digital + Audiobook — $6.99 Digital edition, any state — $3.99

Twenty state editions. Pick your state at checkout — each one is written to your state's own law. Every paperback has a page inside that sends you to the audiobook and the digital edition.

Secure checkout by PayPal or card, delivered in minutes. The paperback is coming back soon. Published by JWB Publishing LLC.

Now in audio

What the Machine Remembered — the audiobook

Six chapters, 55 minutes. Read by Jase Calhoun, the voice of Taking It Back, with Victoria Chestnut. Listen to Chapter One:

Included free with the paperback and ebook. Every copy has a page inside that tells you where to get it.

Buy the audiobook — $3.99 Digital + Audiobook — $6.99 Secure checkout by PayPal or card. Delivered by BookFunnel within minutes. Narrators: Jase Calhoun and Victoria Chestnut (digital narrators). Produced by JWB Publishing LLC.

What's Inside

Every book in the series follows the same promise.

Nine chapters, built the same way whether you're in Providence or Sacramento — so once you understand one, you understand the shape of all twenty.

The law, translated

Your state's statute in plain English, with the real citation attached to every claim — not a paraphrase you have to trust blindly.

How your state compares

What your state's law does that its neighbors don't — a stricter deadline, a broader definition, a right nobody else grants.

What happens if they ignore you

The real escalation path: the cure period, the Attorney General complaint, and what to do when a company simply doesn't answer.

Ready-to-send templates

A first request, a certified-mail version, and a formal appeal — worded and statute-cited, ready to copy.

Company forms

Pre-addressed forms for the platforms and data brokers most likely to be holding your information, cited to the exact right you're invoking.

A one-page checklist

The entire process distilled to a single sheet, so the whole fight fits in one hand.

Two Ways To Use This Book

Do it yourself — or let us manage it.

Every book is complete on its own — buy it, and nothing in it requires a subscription. We built the subscription for one reason: the process is fair, but it is not reasonable to expect most American consumers to run it by hand — twenty companies, twenty deadlines, three or four follow-ups each, every year. That is the labor we manage.

Do It Yourself

The Book

One purchase. No subscription, nothing further to buy.

Your state's law in plain English, with the citation on every claim
Every template and company form, ready to send
Paperback and ebook editions, all twenty states
A reader who stops here has everything they need

Browse the books

The Convenience Subscription

Taking It Back — Managed

$49.99/year · add a spouse or partner $24.99 · each child $9.99

You decide. We file, track, and follow up — for as long as you subscribe.

What we do, exactly

You choose the companies. We prepare each request from your state's templates and file it the way that company's own privacy policy requires.
We keep a timestamped record of every request, every reply, and every deadline.
When a deadline passes or a reply comes in, we move the request to its next lawful step — appeal, re-file, or complaint — without you having to remember it.
We re-file annually, because footprints grow back.
Software-assisted, curator-reviewed. Never fully automated, never a call center.

What we never do

We never ask for, receive, or store your ID. If a company demands proof of identity, we email you the completed request; you attach your ID and send it to that company yourself.
We never sell, share, or reuse your information. The record we keep is yours.

Included with every subscription: the What the Machine Remembered audiobook and ebook, free. Already bought one? The price you paid comes off your first year at checkout.

For those who serve. Police, military, fire and EMS, and teachers: 25% off, every year. No ID, no paperwork — one checkbox and your word.

I serve, or have served, as police, military, fire/EMS, or a teacher, and I’m claiming this on my honor.

This discount is a thank-you. Please leave it for the people it’s meant for.

Ask about the subscription Member enrollment opens soon at JWBDataRights.com.

Never asks for a copy of your ID Cancel exactly as easily as you signed up

TakingItBackBooks.com and the book series are published by JWB Publishing LLC. The subscription service described above is provided by JWB Data Rights LLC, a separate company. Neither business provides investment, financial, or legal advice.

About the Author

Jason W. Brewington

Jason W. Brewington, a Hoosier born and raised, has spent more than half his life — over twenty-five years — as an independent financial advisor in Indiana, helping Hoosier families protect and grow what they have worked so hard for. He built his career on a simple standard: explain things in plain language, and meet clients where they live, because real service means genuine convenience, not convenience for the institution.

The Taking It Back series is built on that same standard.

The idea for this book began with a simple question, put to a machine in his own kitchen: “What core knowledge do you retain about me?” The answer revealed the one asset no one had been protecting for him — his family's sensitive information. What the Machine Remembered, and the Taking It Back series alongside it, is his answer to an information-gathering industry that has operated unchecked and unregulated by law.

This is not the wild west. It is more dangerous than that — because you cannot see it happening, and no one is incentivized to change the landscape the bandits have built.

Remember this. They have your information. They will never delete it — even when they no longer need it — until you make them. Take your information back.

“The right you don’t use protects no one.”

TakingIt Back