Are you wondering how to delete yourself from the internet?
The internet holds a lot of personal information, some of it is added by the individual, and the rest comes from numerous other sources.
Many people don’t realize how much of their private information is, in fact, public. Anyone looking for data about another person will begin with an online search.
Everybody should be aware of how much of their data is online. If the information is negative, it’s worth having it removed. And that task is possible.
You can search for people online from many sources, so deleting yourself takes time and patience. Here are some of the ways.
First up, how much detail is publicly available?
Table Of Contents
Tips On How to Delete Yourself from the Internet
Google Yourself
The first step in protecting your privacy is to determine how much data on you has been made public. Do a Google search on yourself.
Simply type your name into Google with “ “ marks around it for more accurate results. Copy and paste all the links onto a notepad.
The more results, the more time it will take to complete the task.
Only some things online could be harmful. If there is anything that casts you in a very positive light, consider leaving it. It’s bad that you want to remove it.
Incorrect or Updated Information
If any of the Google results link to a page that is incorrect or needs updating, you can contact Google to request its removal. The only catch is that correct or updated data needs to be online and searchable. Provide these links at the time of the request.
Contacting Google to achieve this task is done via the webmaster/tools link.
Unused Accounts
Over time, as interests change, people move from site to site or application to application and forget about older ones. However, any historical interaction with that site remains online.
Consider deleting any social media, forum, Q&A, groups, online dating, or even accounts that you no longer use. If you cannot delete a forum account, you can request that administrators redact your posts.
Opt-Out of People Search Sites
People search sites, also known as data brokers, scrape the internet to compile information databases on individuals.
Data found on this site includes any public or court records, property or motor vehicle transactions, and even utility company accounts.
If you’ve entered your name into one of these sites, got a hit, and wish to have the data removed, you can. Each site has an opt-out function where you can request the information to be deleted.
Remember, any future transactions appearing in the search results above could generate a new profile.
Data brokers share information with each other, but deleting one doesn’t remove it all. This manual task needs to be completed by everyone.
Amend Data That You Can’t Delete
Some sites or apps don’t have a delete function. Although time-consuming, an option is to manually amend the details, adding false ones to remove anything to do with you.
Names, addresses, emails, and phone numbers can often be overwritten with fictional ones, making the data useless to anyone.
Most sites will require a current email address to be linked. Create a new one from any free online email services available and link that instead of your personal one.
Pay a Professional
Depending on the amount of data about you online, if the task of deleting it all seems overwhelming, hire a professional.
Companies specializing in data removal can go further than you, including accessing the deep and dark web.
Look for ones that have a proven track record and positive reviews.
Protect Your Information
People are constantly surprised by how much information about them is made public online. It’s worth checking and removing anything untoward or overly personal.
Start with a Google search to determine the breadth of the data. Contact Google to remove anything incorrect, provided you can show online proof of the correct details.
Once found, begin by deleting or deactivating any old accounts that aren’t used anymore. Visit people’s search sites and opt out of any that have hits.
Consider hiring a professional service to perform these tasks for you.
Always remember that most of what’s online stays there forever, and even once deleted, it may still be able to be recovered. So, it may not possible to delete yourself from the internet fully.
