But is it actually possible to delete yourself entirely?
The short answer is probably not but you might make yourself a much smaller target.
Why Remove Yourself From The Internet?
Shady information brokers count on how overwhelming it can seem to remove yourself from the internet.
Its a lot of work, and most people dont want to make the effort.
Theres also the ever-present possibility of getting, well,milkshake-ducked.
Jason Fitzpatrick / How-To Geek
If youre a Millennial or Gen Z-er, you grew up either mostly or entirely online.
Scrubbing old stuff from the web is a good way to preempt that, not to mention cathartic.
Leaving sensitive information online makes it an easy target for hackers.
They wouldnt even need your banking login credentials.
But that doesnt mean you cant take steps.
If you live in California or Europe, you’re able to request your data be deleted.
EuropesGDPRlaws and CaliforniasConsumer Privacy Actprovide that option.
If not, you still have recourse.
DataBrokersWatch.org haspre-made formsyou can fill out and send to the ten biggest data brokers on their site.
If youve tried to do this before and the sheer number of data brokers got overwhelming, start here.
Look for personal information like email addresses, personal addresses, and phone numbers.
Do Some Digital Spring Cleaning
Still have a MySpace account?
Delete old social media accounts you no longer use.
you could alsotailor your privacy tweaks pretty finely on Facebook.
you’ve got the option to tweak everything fromwho can see your poststo who can search for you.
Do a privacy check on every social media account you have.
Go to the privacy tab in the configs menu and make it as strict as possible.
Its also a good idea toempty the trash folderif you havent done it in a while.
Here at How-To Geek, we’vereviewed Password1and found it very trustworthy.
Luckily, there are ways to erase or reduce those digital footprints.
Privacy browsers often use private search by default.
If you dont want to switch browsers,browsing in Private or Incognito modewill offer some measure of anonymity.
Some browsers offer them built-in, while others are dedicated apps or services.
If you want to hide your location as well as your browsing data, consider using a good one.
Be careful what you hit and which emails you open.
Dont put anything online you wouldnt want other people to see.
Dont share your precise location if you dont have to.
Talk to your friend and family as well.
Also, explain that youd like them not to share your location on social media.
Tighten your privacy tweaks on your surfing app and social media accounts.
Considerencrypting your text and/or emailsand using private mode.
Read up on exactlywhat datacompanies like Google, Meta, and WhatsApp are collecting from you.
Sign out of your accounts when youre done using them, as it makes you harder to track.
As you learn ,encryption, andsecurity, upgrade your methods.
But if you want to be as close to anonymous as possible, its worth putting in the effort.
