Deleting Yourself from the Internet on Tech Talk with KTRS

You've probably heard the good old saying, "Once something is on the internet, there's no getting it back." While this is true, it isn't entirely impossible to delete your information from parts of the internet, but of course, there's a price. Our IT expert, Jeff Groby, joined the crew for The Guy Phillips Show on The Big 550 KTRS last week for Tech Talk to share some information with end users on how to delete data from the internet.

Why Do People Want to Delete Themselves from the Internet?

There are a few different answers to this question, but it mostly all boils down to personal decisions. Jeff mentioned that some of the common reasoning might be that the person is undergoing a legal battle, made decisions in the past that they would like to leave behind, or it's just their personal preference.

Whether you're looking to close the chapter on old habits or you have a career that requires you to limit your social presence, the decisions are up to the end user.

Limiting Your Online Presence

Jeff explained that it's possible to remove some information about yourself from the internet, but it does cost a fee and could involve working with a third party company. If paying to have your digital footprint removed isn't something you're interested in, you can start by eliminating data that you have access to. Closing out old social media profiles, junk email addresses, and other account-based online services will help to limit your presence. A tip of helpful advice from Jeff was that deleting social media accounts isn't always an immediate task. Some websites like Facebook, have a waiting period before your account is closed. Planning ahead when removing old profiles is key to successfully eliminating the account.

While those are all things that end users have control over, you don't have control over what others have put online about you in most cases. Even if you've untagged yourself from posts on social media that friends have created, they still exist whether you're tagged or not. This is the area where deleting yourself from the internet becomes difficult if not impossible. In addition to posts online, it's also tricky to remove news articles, and other publishing's featuring your name from popping up in search engines. Instances like these are the times when the, "Once something is on the internet, there's no getting it back," comes into play.

The more connected you are, the more difficult deleting your online presence will be. It's important to keep track of which platforms you hold accounts on and to also be aware of the content being shared on your profiles. Through keeping track, it will be easier to close out older pages in the future should you decide that you no longer want the information online.

Tech Talk Presented by SumnerOne

There you have it, an inside scoop on how to limit your online footprint straight from the IT Expert at SumnerOne. Join us each Friday afternoon at 4:20 on The Big 550 KTRS during the Guy Phillips Show to learn more about technology and cyber security on Tech Talk. To learn more about SumnerOne and how we help businesses all across the Midwest to achieve efficiency through technology, contact us.