Reducing Your Digital Footprint: Clearing Your Online Trail
Introduction
The internet has made it incredibly easy to share information about ourselves online. However, this can leave behind a substantial digital footprint that may contain more personal information than we’d like. Reducing your digital footprint can give you more control over your privacy and security online. In this article, I’ll discuss various strategies for clearing your online trail and reducing your digital footprint.
Evaluate Your Online Accounts
The first step is taking stock of all the online accounts and profiles you currently have. This includes:
- Social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.
- Email accounts
- Online forums and communities
- Dating and messaging apps
- Online shopping accounts
- Cloud storage services
- Any other websites or apps you’ve created accounts on
Go through each account and delete any that you no longer use or need. If there are accounts you want to keep, review the personal information in your profiles and tighten up your privacy settings. Disable location tracking and limit the amount of personal information visible to the public.
Remove Personal Information from Websites
Many websites allow users to opt-out of having their personal information displayed publicly. Here are some to check:
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Whitepages – opt out of having your address, phone number and other info listed in their people search listings.
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Spokeo – submit an opt-out request to remove your listing.
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Melissa Data Corp – search for your records and submit an opt-out request.
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MyLife – submit a delete request to remove your public listing.
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Zillow, Realtor.com – remove your home listing and address if posted.
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US Search – opt out of their people search engine.
Submitting opt-out requests can help delist you from the numerous online people search engines and reduce your public digital footprint.
Limit Future Tracking
Make use of privacy tools that limit your online tracking going forward:
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Use a VPN to hide your IP address and encrypt your web traffic.
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Delete cookies and block websites from setting new ones.
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Use the privacy-focused DuckDuckGo browser instead of Chrome or Safari.
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Install browser extensions like Privacy Badger that prevent invisible trackers.
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Turn on Do Not Track requests in your browser settings.
These tools help minimize the amount of data that gets collected about your browsing activity over time.
Remove Yourself from Data Broker Sites
Data brokers like Acxiom, Epsilon and others collect massive amounts of personal data about consumers from public sources and private companies. They then sell that data for marketing and advertising purposes. You can reduce data collection by opting out of the following sites:
This helps limit these data brokers’ ability to collect and distribute your personal info.
Scrub Your Social Media
Go back through your social media accounts and tighten up your privacy settings. Remove old wall posts, photos, status updates or other info you no longer want public.
Also delete inactive social accounts you no longer use. You can download an archive of your data for nostalgic purposes. Services like JustDeleteMe make it easy to delete accounts.
The less inactive data floating around, the smaller your digital footprint.
Search Your Name Online
Search your full name in quotes (e.g. “John Smith”) on Google, Bing and other search engines. This turns up pages, posts and images with your name on them.
Go through the results and request content removals where appropriate. Contact webmasters of sites and ask them to take down your personal information if you believe it violates your privacy rights.
Monitoring name search results helps you discover any unwanted information trails tied to you online.
Bolster Your Online Security
Here are some good security habits to reduce your risk of account hacks or identity theft:
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Use strong unique passwords for every account, with a password manager.
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Turn on two-factor authentication everywhere it’s available.
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Be cautious of public WiFi networks – use a VPN.
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Don’t overshare personal info on social media profiles.
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Regularly update and patch your devices and software.
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Don’t click suspicious links or attachments that could be phishing attempts.
Proactively monitoring your online security makes it much harder for cybercriminals to exploit your digital footprint and hijack your identity.
Monitor Your Online Reputation
Check your online reputation periodically by Googling yourself and setting Google Alerts for your name. This helps you stay on top of new content mentioning you online.
If you find unwanted uses of your name or image, take appropriate steps to get the content removed or obscured. Services like ReputationDefender can also monitor your reputation.
Automate Data Removal
Sites like PrivacyDuck and OneRep help automate the process of submitting data removal requests and opting out of people search sites. This streamlines the process of reducing your digital trail.
Just be aware you may have to occasionally re-submit removal requests as new sites crop up. Maintaining your online privacy requires some ongoing effort.
Closing Thoughts
With a proactive, multi-pronged approach, you can significantly reduce your digital footprint and take control of your online privacy. Monitor your reputation, limit tracking, opt out of data brokers, and tighten up security habits. While an online presence is unavoidable today, you can still minimize your digital trail through vigilance and regular maintenance.
