If you are reading this, you are very likely concerned that your personal information may be floating around the Internet, accessible to everyone. In addition, surely many times you have wondered how you can remove all that personal information from the Internet to prevent companies from collecting and using it for their own benefit.
But, can all personal information on the Internet be deleted? The short answer is no. Unfortunately, it can never be completely removed , but there are ways to minimize the fingerprint we leave behind every time we open a browser, which would reduce the chances that your personal data will be available and visible to anyone. Here are some ways to do it.
Be careful though: deleting your personal information from the Internet , as described below, could negatively affect whether you are trying to look for work.
Delete or deactivate your social networks
Social networks are the largest showcase on the web, and the largest bank of personal data. Who has not remembered an old classmate, or an old love and has googled it? Think about social networks where you have a profile with your real name and surname, your photo, your date of birth or the place where you live.
Aside from the big social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn, chances are you still have old accounts on sites like Tumblr, MySpace or Reddit. The same goes for online stores. Maybe several years ago you bought a t-shirt and had to register to order. Since you’ve only bought there once, you don’t even remember the name of the site, but they still have all your data , including the number of the credit card with which you made the payment.
Remove your information directly from the websites
First, check with your phone company or Internet provider that you are not on their internal lists. Companies usually keep emails and phone numbers for years, so then they call us to make offers even if we have not had anything contracted with them for a long time.
If you want to delete an old blog or forum post that you are embarrassed about, the process is much more complex and cumbersome, as you will need to contact the administrator of those sites individually. A quick way to find him can be to consult the “About us” or “Contact” section of the website. Unfortunately, private website operators are not required to remove your posts. Therefore, when contacting these sites, please be courteous and clearly state why you want the post to be removed. Hopefully they will remove it.
Remove personal information from the websites you visit
If someone has published confidential information about you, such as an account number or your ID, and the administrator of the site where it was published does not delete it, you can send a request for legal deletion to Google to intervene.
The removal process may take some time and there is no guarantee that it will be successful, but it is also your best recourse if you find yourself in that privacy breach situation.
