Delete Your Digital Footprint Now to Avoid Regret: Here's How
Internet activity leaves a digital record that users are sometimes unaware of. Therefore, it is important for the public to start paying attention to and deleting digital footprints stored in cyberspace, especially if the information has the potential to be misused or cause discomfort in the future.
Every online activity can leave various information. Starting from sites that have been visited, email addresses that have been shared, search history on social media, to personal data provided when creating an account or using digital services. These footprints can be used for various purposes, both beneficial and detrimental to the user.
Speaking of digital footprints from the positive side, users do not need to bother entering personal data on a website because it is usually stored automatically. However, digital footprints stored on search engine services such as Google, or social media such as TikTok and Instagram, as well as those held by mobile phone manufacturers, can also be used for advertising purposes.
If you are uncomfortable with this practice, there are ways to delete your digital footprint on the internet.
- Using Incognito Mode
With this method, applications will not record the sites visited and will not store the keywords used by the user. However, it should be noted that this does not mean you escape surveillance. For example, when logging into Facebook, the social media platform will record the activities carried out. To hide your activity from your ISP, use a VPN when using the internet.
- Potential Data Leaks
You should also check whether you have been a victim of a data breach, considering the many cases that have affected several platforms recently, including Yahoo and Adobe. The way to do this is by using the Have I Been Pwned? website to find out whether your data has been leaked. After entering the website, fill in the email address you use. Next, it will be visible whether the data you have has ever experienced a leak or not.
- Delete All Cookies
This method means no more sites can track you. Deleting cookies can be done in all browsers such as Chrome and Firefox. Cookies can be deleted one by one or all at once with the help of third parties such as Advanced System Optimizer.
- Limiting Tracking
Some data may be tracked by applications. However, some of them allow users to use Incognito mode if requested. You should first check the application settings to stop tracking. If you do not find that option, delete all activity manually. The process varies depending on the operating system used.
- Deleting Search History
A number of applications rely on storing user data locally or in the cloud, so they can link information to other devices. This means that to delete search logs from a mobile phone, you must delete records on various platforms. For example, a Google account stores search history from your Android phone. To delete it, access Google from the web and open the activity history page, then delete it.
- DeleteMe Service
Data brokers, such as Spokeo, Whitepages.com and PeopleFinder, will collect information and sell it to third parties. The DeleteMe or DesseatMe service can help clean up your digital footprint.
Check data stored by Google
To delete a digital footprint, internet users should also check their activity data stored by Google. In daily internet activity, Google is one of the most frequently used services. However, it should be noted that the technology giant tracks its users’ movements. In fact, this tracking occurs even if the user has turned off location history on the platform.
As a note, data stored after tracking is turned off will not disappear. Google will not store information in the future, but previously stored data will not be deleted.
How to delete internet history
In addition to ensuring you are not tracked on the internet, you can also delete digital footprints on your mobile phone. The way to do this is by regularly deleting browsing history in the browser.
Here is how:
- Google Chrome
To delete history in Google Chrome, click the three dots to enter the menu. Next, select Settings and in the sidebar open the Privacy & Security menu. Next, select Clear browsing data. You must select the time period you want to delete, then click Clear data. As a note, if you set the browser to sync with another computer via a Google account, deleting history on one device will also happen on the other device.
- Mozilla Firefox
First click the three horizontal lines on the right to enter the menu. Then select Settings > Privacy & Security and scroll down to Cookies & Site Data. You can delete all data and manage data to have control over what is deleted. Also tick the box that deletes browsing data every time you close Firefox if you do not want to do it manually.
- Safari
In Safari, first open the menu and click Clear History. Select the time range whose data you want to delete and click Clear History. When deleting history in Safari, you cannot get the option to delete various types of data. So cookies and cache files are also deleted.
- Microsoft Edge
Windows 11 users can delete their history by pressing the three dots on the right. Continue by selecting Settings from the menu that appears. In the Privacy menu, find Clear browsing data and click Choose what to clear. Determine the choices from the list, including browsing history and cache data. Finally, click Clear Now.
- Opera
The first step is to click the Settings icon on the right side of the address bar. In the menu that appears, scroll and find Privacy & Security next to Browsing data, then click Clear. Next, you can choose the type of data you want to delete, including determining the time period. After everything is done, click Clear Data.