So you want to go off the grid. There are various reasons why you might want to erase your online identity. You don’t like potential employers Googling you, or maybe you just want to be hard to find. Going off the grid depends on how much you put out there.
Erase or Deactivate All Social Media Accounts
Most of us have Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts. Removing or deleting these accounts is the first step to deleting your online identity. Try to do a Google search of your name and chances are, the first results are the ones of your social media accounts. If you want to remove search results, set your profiles to private. It won’t erase your online identity, but at least you won’t show up on search engines. For Facebook and Twitter, there is a deactivate button that can erase your profile. LinkedIn has a “close your account” link. Google+ is trickier because it is tied to your entire Google account, including email, calendar, and other accounts you use Google to sign in for.
Remove Search Engine Results
Now that you’ve erased your social media footprint, start deleting unwanted search results. You will want to know where you’re showing up so the first step is to Google yourself and bookmark the search results. You have to be patient here, because the only way to remove yourself from these websites is to communicate with the site owner directly. Drop them a quick email to ask them to delete you. These might be websites of old employers, family members who blog and mentioned you in one of their posts or donation pages you supported. This takes time, but eventually your name will be erased from these sites.
You can also ask the search engine to remove the pages. Google, Google Images, and Bing have a request form you can fill out with the URL you don’t want to be indexed again. It does not always work, but it’s still worth a shot.
Remove Background Check or Public Record
Information could still be out there so your next step is to check personal data by digging into databases. Some sites to check are:
Zabasearch – a database for telephone numbers and addresses.
Intelius – They perform background checks and criminal records. You can pay them to get results, but they can also be used so that you get the general idea by searching your name.
Spokeo – is like Intelius where you have to pay to get the exact results but can be used to get the general idea of what’s out there.
Pipl – aggregates searches and can be used to look for info that have slipped through the cracks.
If you don’t want to go through results one by one, you can use services like DeleteMe to do all of this for you.
Delete Email Accounts
If you really want to stay off the grid, you will need to delete your email accounts. You can usually find instruction on how to delete your email account and profile by following instructions given by your email provider.
Be Anonymous
The Internet can be useful, but if you don’t want more records of yourself on the web, you can become anonymous by making fake accounts. You can join social media again by using a fake identity. This way, you remain anonymous but can still use the web. If you want access to email, you can create one with a different name with Gmail or Outlook. You can also use a pseudonym for services you need.
Do not expect immediate results if you want to erase your online identity. Going off the grid cannot be accomplished in a day. Chances are, there will still be info about you even if you thought you’ve deleted everything and you will just have to learn to accept that.
