Looking to minimize or erase your digital footprint?
Living in the digital age comes with its fair share of ups and downs. Yes, some people believe the digital age is the highest peak of humanity. But you may be someone who sees the not-so-hidden danger in hyper-digitalization.
With privacy concerns top of mind and identity theft on the rise, you may be searching for ways to eliminate your digital footprint.
Here are 6 ways to get a grip on your digital footprint.
Set Your Social Media To Private
The first thing you should do when working to erase or minimize your digital footprint is to set all of your social media profiles to private.
Most major social media platforms have the option for private profiles, which offers users a slightly increased level of privacy and security. It’s best to take advantage of it, especially if you’re not willing to delete your social media altogether.
By denying users you don’t know to follow you and maintaining a private profile, only the people you choose can see what you’ve posted.
Public profiles allow strangers to quickly find crucial information about you such as your name, relationships, location, schedule/routine, workplace, and more.
Setting your profiles to private will keep this information from getting into the hands of phishers and scammers.
Google Yourself
Looking yourself up on Google is a step you can’t afford to skip in your quest to erase your digital footprint. You need to know what others can find about you.
If you have a common name, add your location. From there, you can report any websites using your personal information without your permission through Google’s content reporting website.
The search engine is also beginning to roll out its Results About You feature. This will allow users to receive notifications whenever their personal information is found on a new webpage.
Delete Old Or Unused Accounts
Minimizing the number of accounts in your name can effectively shrink your digital footprint.
Deleting old, unused accounts is essential in maintaining digital privacy and security.
This includes that AOL email account (RIP) you made in 1997 that may have your personal information attached to it still, something hackers could target.
In fact, cybercriminals may be more likely to target old and unused accounts because they’re checked less frequently.
Use A VPN When On Public Wifi
If you like to work or browse the internet in public spaces, you’ve probably connected to a public wifi network before. Places like coffee shops and libraries offer their patrons complimentary wifi, which can come with serious risks.
These risks include malware distribution, eavesdropping, wifi snooping, and more. When connecting to a public wifi network, establish a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to prevent these risks and ensure your connection to the server is anonymous.
Steer Clear Of Weak Passwords
Although it may be tempting to use a guess-able password that’s easy to remember across all of your online accounts, doing so may make your accounts more susceptible to hackers.
You should also use a variety of different passwords for your online accounts. If keeping track of multiple passwords seems overwhelming, you can use password manager software or a spreadsheet to keep them organized.
Use A Paid Service
If you’ve already done all of the steps above and don’t yet have peace of mind, it might be best to consider a professional, paid service.
DeleteMe is a service that enlists itself as your privacy partner and can be done in only 4 simple steps:
- Submit your personal information that you want removed from search engines.
- DeleteMe will then find and remove the information.
- You will receive a detailed report in a week.
- DeleteMe will scan and delete your personal information every 3 months.
The Takeaway
There are many options out there if you’re looking to digitally erase yourself. Following the steps above will help you minimize the personal information available to strangers online.
Going forward, continue to check up on your online presence every few months to sustain the work you’ve done to digitally erase yourself.
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