There are so many people who will argue that the internet is the best thing that has happened to this generation and this assertion is not in doubt. Saying that the world wide web is a huge place seems like an understatement. It hosts over 4 billion daily users and millions of platforms! There’s an infinite amount of content to consume and there’s more being created.

However, in the midst of all these, it is easy to get tired and seek a way out. Some people binge on funny content on the internet until nothing amuses them anymore. Others engage in illicit activities online. Yet, some just grow tired over time.

The reasons are plenteous, but the solution is the same; you can delete your history from the internet and become a “ghost”. “But how!?” you might ask. If you continue reading this post, you will learn all about this.

The first part that many people are concerned about is getting their face off the internet; deleting their pictures. Is it that picture of you binge-drinking in college you want to remove or the near-nude image of you posing for the camera? Here’s how you can get around it.

Erasing Your Picture Footprint Online

The first thing to do is to check out for pictures that pop up when your name (or alias) is entered into Google or any other search engine. Get a note and identify the websites where your picture is posted and then go ahead to initiate correspondence with the webmasters of these sites.

How to Get the Webmaster’s Contact

Usually, there is a “Contact Us” button down on the website where you can reach out to these webmasters. Some of them leave their contact details while others provide a contact box where you can leave your message and they’ll get back to you.

If this doesn’t exist, however, you can still find the contact information when you Google “WhoIs (enter the site address)”. For example, if you find your picture on a website like “www.picturesofyou.com” all you need to search for on Google is; “WhoIs www.picturesofyou.com” and, voila! Your query is answered.

If you find out that after deleting an account (we shall get to this later), your picture still exists on Google, you can visit this link to ask Google to remove the picture. You can also request for any sensitive or inappropriate picture to be removed from the search engine here.

Deleting Your Accounts

Do you want to be out of sight? Delete every account you have ever had. Now, the popular ones might be easy for you to remember; Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, etc. but it might require a little more digging to delete the accounts you created and forgot about years ago.

Apart from social media, try not to forget shopping accounts like Amazon and eBay. The amount of data these sites collect is astounding and the digital footprint here is enough to overturn your charade. For some, you might also need to delete your financial history, as well as your educational accounts. One more thing you should do is to unsubscribe from those pesky, obtrusive subscriptions that flood your email.

We understand that some accounts are just too difficult to delete, while others might escape your memory. This brings us to the next paragraph.

Using a Paid Service to Organize Your Disappearance

Have you watched movies where an individual paid people to fake their death so as to live a prosperous, happy life in some unknown island? Well, you can also live such a life distant from the internet if you pay the right people. There are several firms providing the service to help you delete your digital footprint and go into oblivion. Some of these services are listed here.

DeleteMe

As the name implies, they can help delete you from the web. Basically, their service entails data collection and release. They are also renowned for the obliteration of data including names, addresses, and even aliases. If the thought of going through every website where you have entered your data scares you, paying this company to do it sounds like the ideal alternative.

Unroll.Me

This is a service that helps customers unsubscribe from all the numerous lists that keep bombarding the email. Although the new GDPR regulation means that members of the EU might not be privileged to use this service. 

Clean Up Your Computer

This is the final piece of the puzzle and once you do this, there’s no going back. Here, you remove your internet history, the cookies, cache, everything! If you decide to go for something more advanced, you can uninstall all browsers on your mobile phone or PC. Some people even do away with their computers totally. It’s your choice.

Saving the Important Details

We know that this article is all about deleting, erasing, and leaving. But while we’re at it, it might be important to consider saving some vital data remotely. It might be just to reminisce on the good old days or to serve as a legal backing in the future. Most social networks provide a simplified way of doing this and you can always leverage cloud storage.

What if You Still Want to Access the Internet?

With so many data trackers around, many people think the internet is no longer as safe. While this fear is understandable, it should not keep you from enjoying all the important and exciting things the internet has to offer you.

So then, the solution is to surf the internet using a virtual private network (VPN). What is a VPN? Basically, it is a technology that allows you to browse the internet with a secure, encrypted connection, making it difficult to trace or hack. This is more popular among businesses as they are able to send confidential information freely without fear of vulnerability.

Conclusion

To conclude, this is a process that should be embarked upon after a lot of consideration has gone into it. Once you decide to erase all of your personal data, coming back would be difficult.

All the best with your venture!