Are you wondering how to delete yourself from the internet?
Every time you log onto the internet, you simultaneously increase the chances of your data being used and abused by third parties. Bits of the digital version of you are being spread across the information superhighway. You may not think twice about this as you search, browse, and share pictures, but you may want to if internet privacy is a concern.
The news is riddled with countless data breach stories. You thought your information was safe and sound. So, what’s the solution?
One method is to start to remove personal information on the internet. Our guide below has got you covered with things you can do today. Read on to educate yourself.
Search Yourself
Before you go ahead and delete yourself from the internet, start with a Google search. By acting as if someone is searching for you, you’ll know where to start to delete personal information.
Search your full name and its variations in quotations. You can then contact Google to have them remove outdated or unwanted material online.
As a pro tip, start to use search engines like DuckDuckGo and Presearch who don’t collect your data as you search.
Say Sayonara to Shopping and Social Media
What shopping profiles and social media sites do you belong to? Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are amongst the most popular.
Have you forgotten any that you may have used in the past? Make a list if you have to. To start to delete yourself from the internet, head to your profiles and deactivate, remove, or close your accounts.
If it’s unclear how to remove yourself from these platforms, a simple search will do. If you’re unable to delete an account, change your name to something made up.
Done With Data Collection
These days, it’s all about data collection. Internet white pages and other data brokers want to learn as much as possible about you. By collecting your digital data, they can sell it to third-party advertisers to be able to feed you better-targeted ads.
To protect personal information online, you’ll want to use a service like DeleteMe. Rather than contacting these companies one by one and filling out archaic paperwork, DeleteMe will handle everything for you at a cost.
Just remember when you remove personal information online, you won’t show up on Google search results either.
Remove Personal Information from Sites
If you wish to remove personal information from certain sites, you’ll have to contact the webmaster individually. Perhaps it is an angsty LiveJournal post you wrote as a teen or an embarrassing forum post.
Find the contact information on the About or Contact page. Alternatively, head to whois.com to find the contact information of the specific domain.
You Can Disappear Completely from the Internet!
While you can’t completely vanish, you can at least remove personal information from the internet. This takes work, but it is worth it if you’d like to take steps forward to improve privacy online.
You must do your research and protect yourself from unwanted eyes. To stay on the pulse with all things tech, explore our blog.
