How to Remove Personal Information from the Internet: 13-Step Guide

With the rise of cybercrime, identity theft, and data breaches, your personal details—like your phone number, email address, and online activities—are at constant risk. Data broker sites, people search sites, and even old accounts on social media platforms can expose sensitive information. Hackers can exploit this public data to steal your identity, compromise your passwords, or use your personal info for malicious purposes.

Fortunately, you can take control of your online privacy. This 13-step guide will show you how to remove personal information from the internet, delete old accounts, submit removal requests, and safeguard your digital footprint. Whether you’re dealing with data brokers, social media accounts, or search results, these steps make it easy to reclaim your privacy and protect yourself in the digital age.

• Your personal details (e.g., phone number, email address, home address) can be easily accessed online, leading to privacy breaches.
  
• Exposing this information can allow anyone to track, contact, or misuse it without your consent.
  

• Criminals can use your personal information to open fraudulent bank accounts, apply for credit cards, or commit crimes under your name.
  
• In 2022, over 1.4 million cases of identity theft were reported to the FTC, demonstrating how widespread this problem is.
  

• If personal information like your home address or phone number is publicly available, it can be exploited by stalkers or harassers.
  
• With the rise in online harassment, having your personal details online can increase your exposure to unwanted contact.
  

• Scammers often use publicly available information to create more convincing phishing attempts.
  
• They may impersonate companies or services you use, tricking you into revealing passwords, social security numbers, or financial data.
  

• Data brokers collect, buy, and sell personal information like your online activity, shopping habits, and social media posts.
  
• This data can be used by marketers, but it can also end up in the hands of hackers or malicious actors.
  

• Recent data breaches at companies like Facebook, Marriott, and Equifax exposed the sensitive data of millions of users, increasing the risk of fraud and identity theft.
  
• Even platforms you trust can be vulnerable to security breaches, so removing personal information helps reduce your exposure.
  

• These companies gather and sell your personal data, often without your consent.
  
• Removing your information from data broker sites helps limit how much personal info is available to third parties.
  

• Scammers often use public information to make their attacks seem more legitimate.
  
• Reducing your digital footprint minimizes the likelihood of being targeted by phishing or fraud attempts.
  

• Deleting or safeguarding your personal information online helps you control what is shared and who has access to it.
  
• Submitting removal requests to sites, managing your social media accounts carefully, and opting out of data broker sites are key steps to protect your privacy.
  

The first step in removing your personal information from the internet is to Google yourself. Auditing your online presence is important because it helps you see what personal data—like your name, phone number, or email address—may be publicly available. This gives you a clear view of what others, including scammers or potential employers, can find.

1. Search Your Full Name: Use quotation marks for better results (e.g., “John Smith”).
   
2. Check Variations: Search other names you’ve used (e.g., maiden name, initials).
   
3. Include Extra Info: Add details like your city or workplace to narrow the search.
   
4. Explore Multiple Pages: Look beyond the first page of results for hidden data.
   
5. Use Image Search: Check if any photos of you appear online.
   
6. Set Up Google Alerts: Get notifications when new data about you shows up.
   

Data brokers are companies that collect and sell your personal information—like your name, phone number, address, and email—without your consent. They gather this data from public records, social media, and online purchases, then sell it to marketers, employers, or even scammers.

Common data broker sites include:

• Spokeo
  
• Whitepages
  
• MyLife
  
• BeenVerified
  
• Intelius
  
• PeopleFinders
  
• TruthFinder

1. Visit the Opt-Out Page: Look for an "Opt-Out" or "Do Not Sell My Info" link on the data broker’s site.
   
2. Verify Your Identity: You may need to provide details like your email or ID to confirm your identity.
   
3. Submit the Request: Follow the instructions to complete your opt-out request.
   
4. Confirm: Check your email for confirmation and finalize the process.
   
5. Repeat: Repeat this process for each data broker where your info appears.

Deleting old social media accounts is an important step in protecting your personal data. Inactive accounts, like those on Myspace or old Facebook profiles, may still hold sensitive information such as your name, email, phone number, photos, and private messages. These details can be accessed by hackers, data brokers, or even the platforms themselves, putting your privacy at risk.

1. List Platforms: Write down old platforms you've used, such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
   
2. Check Your Email: Search your inbox for sign-up emails or password resets from old accounts.
   
3. Google Yourself: Search your name with platform names to find forgotten profiles.
   
4. Log In & Delete: If you can access the account, go to the settings and follow the steps to delete it.
   
   • Facebook: Settings > Your Facebook Information > Deactivation and Deletion.
     
   • Myspace: Account Settings > Delete Account.
     

1. Unlink Connected Accounts: Disconnect any linked services to prevent further data sharing.
   

Deleting old accounts reduces your digital footprint and protects your online privacy by removing outdated data that can be exploited. It’s an easy way to take control of your online presence and limit unwanted data sharing.

Adjusting privacy settings on your active social media accounts is a crucial step to protect your personal information. When profiles are public, anyone can access sensitive details like your phone number, email, or location, increasing the risk of identity theft, scams, and stalking. By tightening your privacy settings, you control who can see your data and posts.

• Go to "Settings & Privacy" > "Privacy Checkup."
  
• Limit posts to "Friends" and control who can see your personal info.

• Go to "Settings & Privacy" > "Privacy and Safety."
  
• Protect your tweets so only followers can view them.

• Go to "Settings & Privacy."
  
• Limit profile visibility to "Connections only" and control who can see your connections.
  

• Go to "Settings" > "Privacy."
  
• Switch to a private account so only approved followers see your posts.

• Turn off location sharing.
  
• Review and remove third-party app access.
  
• Regularly check for privacy updates.
  

Even after securing your privacy, your personal information may still appear in Google search results, including outdated or sensitive details like your phone number or address. Here’s how to remove it:

1. Visit the Tool: Go to Google's Remove Outdated Content.
   
2. Enter the URL: Copy and paste the link containing your personal info.
   
3. Submit the Request: Google will check if the content is outdated and remove it from search results.
   

If the information is still live on the website, you'll need to reach out to the site owner:

1. Find Contact Info: Look for a “Contact Us” page or use WHOIS to locate the site owner.
   
2. Send a Removal Request: Politely ask them to remove your data, providing the URL for reference.

You can file a Legal Removal Request with Google for sensitive or unlawful content.

Unused email accounts are often security risks. Even if you haven’t logged in for years, they may still contain sensitive information like passwords, personal messages, or financial details that hackers can exploit. If an old email account is hacked, it can be used to steal personal data, reset passwords on linked accounts, or send scam emails to your contacts.

1. List Possible Accounts: Think of all email accounts you’ve used, including those for school, work, or shopping (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.).
   
2. Search Current Emails: Search your current email for old sign-up or password reset messages that might lead to forgotten accounts.
   
3. Use Search Tools: Tools like Have I Been Pwned can help identify old email addresses linked to data breaches.
   
4. Log In and Delete: Access old accounts, reset the password if needed, and find the "Account Settings" to delete the account.
   
   • Gmail: Google Account > Data & Personalization > Delete Service.
     
   • Yahoo: Use Yahoo's Account Termination page.
     
   • Outlook/Hotmail: Microsoft Account > Your Info > Close Account.

5. Update Linked Services: Before deleting, check if the email is linked to important services and update them with your current email.

People-search sites like BeenVerified, Intelius, Spokeo, and PeopleFinder collect and display personal information, including your name, address, phone number, and family details. Opting out of these sites is key to protecting your privacy and reducing your online exposure.

1. Visit the Opt-Out Page: Most sites have an opt-out or "Do Not Sell My Info" link at the bottom of their homepage.
   
2. Find Your Listing: Search for your name and location to locate your personal data.
   
3. Submit Your Request: Follow the instructions to submit an opt-out request, sometimes requiring the listing URL.
   
4. Verify Your Identity: You may need to confirm your identity via email or upload an ID.
   
5. Confirm Removal: Check your email for confirmation and monitor the site, as information may reappear.

If your personal information appears on websites you don’t control, you can contact the webmaster to request its removal. Here’s how:

1. Find Contact Info: Check the website’s “Contact Us” page for an email or use a WHOIS Lookup tool to find the webmaster’s contact details.
   
2. Prepare Your Request: Be polite, explain your privacy concerns, and include the exact URL of the page where your info appears.
   
3. Send the Request: Email the webmaster or use their contact form with your removal request.

Subject: Request to Remove Personal Information from Your Website

Hello,

I’m requesting the removal of my personal information (e.g., [specific details]) located at [insert URL]. Due to privacy concerns, I kindly ask that you remove this information. Thank you for your help.

Best,
[Your Name]

• Be polite and specific.
  
• Include the exact URL.
  
• Follow up if you don’t get a response.

Personal information can easily linger in public forums and blog comments, even long after you’ve forgotten about them. Posts and comments you made years ago may still be visible online, often showing up in search engine results. Cleaning these up is an important step to protect your privacy.

Details like your name, email, or even location shared in public forums or comments can be accessed by anyone, including scammers and identity thieves. Removing this information helps reduce your exposure.

1. Search Your Username or Email: Use Google to search for your username or email along with terms like "forum" or "blog" to find old posts.
   
2. Log In to Your Account: If possible, log into your old accounts and delete or edit your posts to remove personal info.
   
3. Use Forum Search Tools: Many forums have internal search options where you can find and edit your own posts.
   
4. Contact Administrators: If you can’t delete the post yourself, contact the site admin and request removal due to privacy concerns.

Cleaning up forums and blog comments helps protect your online privacy by reducing the personal information that’s publicly available, keeping your digital footprint smaller and safer.

Removing your personal information from the internet can be difficult and time-consuming, but data removal services can help by automating the process. These services regularly scan the web and remove your data from public databases, data broker sites, and people-search websites, ensuring long-term protection.

• If you find the manual process too time-consuming or complicated, consider using a paid service like MyDataRemoval. These services will remove your information from data brokers on your behalf.
• These services are especially useful if you want your data removed from the internet completely and don’t have time to track down every site.

• Manual Opt-Outs: You can manually request data removal for free, but this requires more effort and constant monitoring.
  
• Google Alerts: Setting up alerts for your name can help track where your data appears, but you’ll still need to manually remove it.

When you register a domain, your personal information (name, address, phone number) may be publicly available through the WHOIS database, making you vulnerable to spam, scams, or unwanted contact.

1. Log In to Your Registrar: Go to the site where you registered your domain (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap).
   
2. Find WHOIS Privacy: Look for “WHOIS Privacy” or “Private Registration” in your domain settings.
   
3. Enable Privacy Protection: Activate the service, which replaces your personal info with the registrar’s details in the WHOIS directory.
   
4. Verify Changes: Run a WHOIS lookup to confirm your data is now private.
   
5. Renew Annually: Make sure to renew privacy protection each year.

WHOIS privacy protection keeps your personal information safe from public view, reducing the risk of spam, scams, and identity theft. It’s an easy way to protect your online privacy and digital footprint when managing your domain.

Many apps collect excessive personal data, including your location, contacts, and browsing habits, often sharing it with third parties like advertisers. Limiting this data sharing helps protect your privacy and reduces the risk of data breaches and invasive tracking.

1. Review App Permissions:
   
   • Check which apps have access to sensitive data like location and contacts.
     
   • iPhone: Go to Settings > Privacy.
     
   • Android: Go to Settings > Privacy > Permission Manager.

2. Disable Unnecessary Permissions:

• • Remove permissions for apps that don’t need them (e.g., a game app tracking your location).

3. Check App-Specific Privacy Settings:

• • Some apps let you control data sharing within their own settings.

4. Use Privacy Tools:

• • Use ‘Sign in with Apple’ to hide your email or Google’s privacy tools to limit data sharing.

5. Delete Unused Apps:

• • Regularly delete apps you no longer use to stop them from collecting data.

Even after removing your personal information from the internet, it’s important to monitor regularly to ensure it stays offline. New data can appear unexpectedly, so ongoing checks help protect your privacy.

1. Set Up Google Alerts:
   
   • Use Google Alerts to get notified when your name or personal details appear online. This helps you stay informed about any new mentions.

2. Search Yourself Regularly:

• • Google yourself every few months to see if any new information about you has surfaced. Check across multiple search engines for a thorough search.

3. Review Social Media Privacy Settings:

• • Regularly review and update privacy settings on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to keep your information private.

4. Use Data Removal Services:

• • If you use services like MyDataRemoval, they will monitor and remove your data continuously, but it’s still good to check in occasionally.

5. Check for Data Breaches:

• • Use tools like Have I Been Pwned to see if your data has been part of a breach and take action if needed.

6. Update Passwords Regularly:

• • Strengthen your security by regularly updating your passwords and using a password manager.

Taking control of your online privacy is crucial in today’s digital world. This guide has provided you with steps to remove your personal information from the internet, including how to opt out of data broker sites, delete old accounts, and remove your personal info from platforms like Google. Whether you want to disappear from the internet or simply reduce the data floating around the internet, staying proactive is key.

By following these strategies—like using services such as MyDataRemoval to manage your data and contacting webmasters for content removal—you can better protect your privacy and security. Remember, even with GDPR regulations in the EU and data protection laws, personally identifiable information is still collected and shared widely.

Regularly monitoring the information you share and ensuring your information is deleted when necessary will keep your sensitive data safer from data breaches and misuse.

Bookmark or share this guide for future reference, and keep in mind that privacy is an ongoing process. Whether you’re trying to delete your Facebook, stop using certain apps, or simply want your address or phone number off the internet, these steps are a great place to start.

Stay vigilant and always opt out of people search sites or data broker websites whenever you can to keep your information off the internet.