Readers:

There are times I want to make my online footprint disappear. I have had my e-mail address for an unusually long time (at least 15 years). I would say 95% of the e-mail I get is junk from all of the magazines and vendor sites I have subscribed to over the years. I have often thought of using a new e-mail address, but I have used this one for so long, I am unsure who I would be omitting from my personal communications.

Lifehacker has posted an interesting infographic, from Who is Hosting This, outlining the steps to make yourself disappear online. Using the nine steps they outline, you can remove your personal information that has been collected all over the web.

Lifehacker also has their own guide on the subject, from deactivating online accounts to getting yourself off of data collection lists. It also offers a few more suggestions, such as falsifying your account information for those horrendous accounts you can’t delete and making sure your phone company doesn’t have you listed as well. Of course, if you don’t want to completely disappear from the web, you can just pick and choose which steps to do to protect your privacy and personal information.

Tempting isn’t it?

Best Regards,

Michael