Today, the Internet is so firmly entrenched in the life of every layman that information about any person on the World Wide Web can be found even without the use of special hacker tools. Even modern mobile systems require the presence of user registration tied to email (they simply do not work without this).
Many of us completely recklessly leave their personal data or contact phone numbers in services that require access exclusively using such registration. And now comes the moment when people begin to think about how to remove personal information from the Internet, moreover, it is desirable to fully and completely. Alas, by and large, it is almost impossible to complete such operations in full.
Can I delete information from the Internet?
The complete elimination of personal data is a very difficult matter. First of all, this is due to the fact that with any attempt to delete some pages on social networks, registration of e-mail boxes and the like, this does not lead to anything.
The owners of the resources themselves seem to delete the links to such pages, but this, rather, can be called hiding them from viewing by other users. In most cases, information does not go anywhere from the site owner’s server, despite all the statements that it will be completely erased.
This is understandable, because state structures or various kinds of security services can demand it at any time. Moreover, the files on any citizen in all countries are now entered into special electronic registers and databases, which ordinary users are unlikely to be able to crack.
So it turns out that, no matter how hard you try, deleting information about yourself on the Internet looks simply unrealistic. But there are some methods that can be used for the simplest cases. This will help when it comes to interference in the work of government agencies. Such liquidation is associated, for the most part, with cases of the placement of their own data by the user himself.
How to delete information about yourself on the Internet: the simplest method
To begin, let's look at the simplest examples and solutions that will not allow to completely delete personal data, but will still help to get rid of something. For example, it’s completely elementary to enter the created account of some Internet service and delete or change, say, the date of birth, last name and first name, phone number (if it is not required to confirm transactions), etc. Of course, if it’s it’s about banking operations, nothing will come of it, because you have to prove to the bank that your number has really changed. And without such a link, a payment or credit card will be blocked.
Manual account deletion
But let's get back to today's most popular communication platforms - social networks.
The above methodology for deleting or adjusting your personal data is sometimes just perfect.
In addition, almost all resources of this type allow you to delete user pages along with accounts. True, the waiting time for deletion after confirmation by the registered user can vary within a fairly wide range.
Despite the fact that after this time access to your account will be blocked, and other users can’t even find the right person through a search, this does not mean that your information has been deleted from the owner’s server. However, for most users who have no connection with crime or terrorism, this will be enough. But in search engines, a link to a deleted page may remain.
Complete erasure of information on social networks
If we talk about how to delete information about yourself on the Internet, regarding social networks, then today you can find many specialized services.
According to the testimony of many users, one of the most interesting and sought-after is the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine resource. Turning to it, you can remove both data and pages ever posted on the most popular social networks, quickly enough.
Many call this process "virtual suicide." To remove personal information from the Internet, just log in to your registered account with a username and password, after selecting the network for which you want to remove registration, and start the process itself.
After that, it remains only to observe how all personal data, friends, photos, comments, links, etc. are deleted. According to eyewitnesses, the complete removal of a user’s page with a thousand friends from the Facebook social network takes a little more than fifty minutes. If you perform similar actions in manual mode, it will take about nine hours.
Special services
Now let's see how to delete information about yourself on the Internet using other services. Take, for example, Reputation.com, an increasingly popular resource. This service does not deal with data deletion, however, it reduces the likelihood of displaying negative information about the user or even the company due to its concealment in search engines, and the promotion of positive reviews. True, for such services, as evidenced by the reviews, you have to pay.
The Delete Me and Remove Your Name services look interesting, but they are also paid. The first one costs $ 129 per year (8600 rubles) per user, the second one has a minimum payment of 1000 $ / 67 000 rubles).
Speaking about how to delete information about yourself on the Internet, some experts advise turning to Google tools. For example, the Me On The Web service is suitable, which helps to track the moments of "surfacing" of user information like an email address or a mobile phone number on the Internet. After detection, you can get rid of both saved pages and their copies.
What is the result?
Of course, these are far from all methods. However, even looking at them, you can absolutely understand that in full, whether you want it or not, it will not work to delete your personal data. Anyway, at least something, but remains. Especially when it comes to government or banking institutions, mobile devices, etc. So, we all, as they say, hang on the hook.
