How to Remove Personal Information from Internet
From private photos to sensitive information, you possibly have data online that you do not want other people to discover. The only way to prevent hackers from finding and misusing your personal data is to erase it from the internet.
Looking for ways to upgrade your privacy and safeguard your identity? Here are a few tips and tricks to assist you in removing your personal information from the web.
Delete All Your Social Media Accounts
First things first, think about all your social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, MySpace, etc. and make a list of all of them.
Now, visit all accounts one by one, look for account settings, and find the option to remove or deactivate your account. You may also remove all your emails, credit cards, and online banking accounts depending upon the amount of privacy you want.
Contact Data Collection Websites and Request to Remove Your Information
If you want to completely remove yourself from internet databases, then begin by searching for yourself on PeopleFinder, Spokeo, and related websites. After that, contact an information broker and enquire about pulling out data.
Remember that each site has a different process, and some sites may take a little longer than the other to complete the procedure.
Clean Personal Data from Your Computer
Your browser history contains a lot of personal information like your files, passwords, visited websites, cached images, etc. It is very hard to completely remove this information. In case it gets leaked or stolen, then you could end up in various problems.
You can do two things. First, get trusted and reliable internet service providers like Wave internet, and secondly, make a habit to regularly delete all your cookies, clean browser history, and use security software with an online privacy feature.
Deactivate or Delete Completely Any Personal Sites or Blogs
Your personal blogs probably include information about your family, health, job, finances, and daily life. Any fraudster can easily use this data to blackmail you or access your accounts. Just be careful about the things you share with readers and double-check before making your blog public.
In case you find any other blog or website using your personal information, then contact that site’s webmaster and ask them to delete your information. You can also contact Google directly by sending a legal request to remove private information if website denies to erase it.
Erase Any Non-essential App from Your Phone
There are several apps on your smartphone that contain your personal details like phone number, name, location, email address, etc. If this information ends up in the hands of fraudsters then they can misuse this information and get you in big troubles.
Always review Privacy Notice and Terms of Use to ensure the trustworthiness of any app. You can also read user reviews to get an idea about information privacy.
Remember that uninstalling any app doesn’t automatically remove all your personal information from that app database. You need to check account and privacy settings to learn how to completely delete your account.
Delete Outdated Search Engine Results
Your private information can be easily exposed through search engine results. Therefore, it is important to remove all data from social media pages, broker websites, etc. The only way is to contact Google and request for information removal.
Bottom Line
A good ISP like Mediacom internet service plays an important role in keeping your data safe. In case you regret posting any personal information publicly, then removing it might take some time. You need to be patient and not expect the process to finish within 24 hours. Use a systematic approach and try any one technique a day.
Always remember that erasing all your personal information from the internet is nearly impossible. But the effort, and time invested wisely in removing yourself from web databases may help you secure your finances and information.