How to delete yourself from the internet in seven steps

If you’ve ever Googled yourself, you’ll discover a small part of what the internet knows about you. It’s the only way we have, according to cybersecurity firm ESET, to know whether we should ask Google to remove relevant personal information that shouldn’t be shared publicly.

In April 2022, Google added new options to delete personal information from its search engine, such as ID or photos, bank account details, contacts, personal information and specific data such as medical records. However, Google will not remove personal information contained in published articles or public record databases.

This feature was added to the already existing option to remove content from search that could be used to cause any harm, such as pornography without consent, images of minors or copyright violations. For residents of the European Union, Google has complied with Article 17 of the General Data Protection Regulation for the Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”), which directs all companies in the EU to erase individuals’ personal data upon request.

Once something is online, it is not easy to delete it. But there are a few things you can do to “clean up” your online presence. ESET experts recommend seven steps:

1. Search yourself on Google. First you need to find out how much the internet knows about you. Type your name into search engines, check the first five pages of results, and combine your name search with your phone number or home address to see what comes up.

2. Check the privacy settings of the services you use. Some platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, have an option in their privacy settings that allows you to protect your content and contacts from appearing in search engines.

3. Contact the website owner. If you want to remove a specific reference to a website, be sure to ask its owner. Most websites have their contact information in the “Contact Us” section.

4. Delete what is not necessary – many people overdo it! If you’re worried about what the world knows about you, start by deleting old Facebook posts, tweets, photos from when you were 17, or anything else that might expose you. Privacy is just as important to your friends and family, so delete photos in which they appear with you.

5. Ask Google and Bing to remove your personal information. After you’ve cleaned up some personal information yourself, use Google’s new tool to remove personal information from search results. So far, the Bing search engine only allows the removal of non-consensual images or broken links and old content. EU residents can use Google’s “Right to be Forgotten” form and Bing’s “Search Blocking Request” form.

6. Think before you share in the future. Your virtual life goes on – maybe you still want to be on Instagram, LinkedIn or any other social media platform. Review your account privacy preferences, choose wisely who can see your posts, and avoid sharing unnecessary content that you may later regret.

7. Use a VPN network. This extra layer of protection will ensure that your connection is encrypted and your location masked. Above all, this will help prevent hackers from poking their noses at your personal information.

If you do all this, will you have full control over your data? Probably not. However, if you are concerned about your privacy and have a limited social media presence, you may be able to erase most of your digital footprint.

Conversely, if your data is everywhere, the above goal is very difficult. Your friends have surely posted pictures of you on social media, and you’ve lost count of how many times you’ve used your email address and phone number to sign in to various websites and apps, plus all the data about your online activity that these services sell to third parties – with your consent.

RES-EMP

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