Have you thought about all of the information that’s out there about you on the World Wide Web? If not, consider how many accounts you have created, how many forums you have interacted with people on, how many social media platforms you’re on, and how easy it is for people to locate personal details, such as your contact information, by performing a simple search using your name on Google. It’s kind of scary to think about it now, isn’t it?
If all of that personal data out there makes you feel a little nervous, you aren’t alone. That’s why so many people decide to take steps to delete their digital footprint as much as possible. Sure, there are certain things that you can’t control, such as public records that are posted and searchable online. But, with the tips below, you can take care of the things you can control when it comes to your online presence.
1. Request Removal of Your Information
To tackle your digital footprint, you first need to figure out where your data can be accessed by others. So, go to any search engine you like, such as Google, and type in your full name to see which websites show up. If there are any websites that are currently displaying information about you, make it a point to contact them to request that they take that information down.
People search websites are likely to show up in your search results if you haven’t yet opted out of them. For instance, if you haven’t gone through the Spokeo opt out steps, your contact details might be super easy to find on that website.
The same is true of other people search websites like Intelius. If you search for information about yourself on there, you might be a little disturbed by what you find. Rather than letting people find your data so easily, go to the Intelius opt out page.
You’ll quickly realize there are a lot of these people search websites out there. Yet another is Radaris. Once again, if you don’t want strangers to be able to run background checks on you or find your contact details, head to the Radaris opt out page to delete this digital footprint.
2. Remove Your Social Media Accounts
Social media makes it really easy to share too much about yourself. Whether or not your profile is private, if you have interacted with others on social media, you have left quite a big digital footprint in the process.
Another step that you’ll want to take if you are serious about removing your online presence is to delete all of our social media accounts. This includes those that you are currently using, as well as those that you might have created years ago and forgotten about.
3. Delete All Other Accounts You’ve Created Through the Years
Finally, you can eliminate the rest of your digital footprint by deleting all of the other accounts that you have created over the years. This might include accounts that you made to play online games, to interact with people on various forums, and to do some online shopping. Once you are done deleting all of your online accounts, you can then complete the process of deleting your digital footprint by deleting your email addresses as well. Just be sure you really don’t need them anymore.