Your personal information can be found all over the internet if you use it for any purpose. You can get an idea of this by searching for your name on Google. You leave little digital footprints through email accounts, social media, and online transactions, among other things.
Although it’s not simple, you can remove most of your online information footprint. It may not even be wise to do so; employers, for instance, anticipate being able to locate you online and may use searches on the internet as part of a background investigation. However, here’s how to remove from internet if that’s your goal.
5 Killer Ways to Delete Yourself from The Internet
In today’s digital world, managing your online footprint is crucial, especially when it comes to remove frequently visited sites on your mobile browser. Many iPhone users seek ways to manage their frequently visited sites, ensuring their browsing experience remains streamlined and personalized. This process is straightforward and an essential part of digital housekeeping.
Whether it’s for privacy reasons or simply to clear frequently visited Safari browsers, understanding how to remove frequently visited safari iphone effectively can enhance your overall browsing experience. By following a few simple steps, you can ensure that your Safari browser reflects your current interests and browsing needs, keeping it free from outdated or unwanted site suggestions.
- Remove yourself from social media
You should start here because your social media presence influences your internet footprint the most. You must remove your accounts rather than simply log off or cease using them. Almost every social networking site has a structured procedure for account closure. Check out our post on deactivating your Facebook account, for instance. Repeat the removal process on each social media platform you have used, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, etc. Most will remove your content entirely quickly, like thirty days.
On Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, you can set your accounts to private if you need more time to delete them completely.
- Delete Yourself from Data Collection Sites
Data collection sites, or people-finder sites, store large volumes of personal information. A cursory search will likely reveal that Spokeo, Whitepages, and BeenVerified are just a few examples of the sites with your identity on file and are willing to sell it to anyone who requests it. That’s only about half the issue, as these data collectors’ main source of revenue is selling enormous amounts of data to big businesses rather than just selling data online.
Although it’s a laborious process, you may manually remove personal information from internet, from each website one at a time. You can use an internet service like Privacy Duck or Delete Me to do it for you. Take note—it’s not inexpensive. Privacy Duck starts at $500 annually, whereas Delete Me costs $129. Additionally, you should have a continuous membership because it’s not always possible to remove your content from data-gathering sites permanently; you can end up back in their database months later.
- Remove Old Forum Posts, Comments, and Discussions
Your web presence could be sparse if you’ve made it this far. However, remember any online presence you may have contributed through forum posts, conversations, and comments. These will be the hardest to get rid of, though, as there isn’t a common way to get rid of comments left at the bottom of articles or in forums. Your best bet is to contact the site manager or owner of the website and ask that your post be removed.
- Delete Your Online Shopping Accounts
This also applies to internet merchants. It is advisable to visit any websites where you have made purchases and request deletion, as they maintain records and profiles about you. These sites include Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, and any other place you have formed an account. Many retailers need a link to this on their website.
- Deactivate Your Email Accounts
You may require email to communicate with websites you are attempting to unsubscribe from, so keep this one for last. However, deactivating and deleting your email accounts is also necessary to erase your online identity.
Since almost everyone in the 21st century requires an email account to function, taking down one’s online persona may be unrealistic. However, you could delete every account except one and use that as your only internet connection. Although deactivating an account varies depending on the email provider, you can see how to close your Gmail account by reading our guide on the subject.
While starting from scratch might sound drastic, there are situations where it might be worthwhile. Even if your data and search results associated with email, social networking, and e-commerce services can be completely erased, doing so will eventually reduce their likelihood of appearing.
Just ensure you have backed up any data you wish to save before making this irreversible decision, such as important pictures you have shared on social media or document scans hidden in your email inbox.