How to Remove Your Personal Information From the Internet

With a bit of work, you can remove your personal info from Google search results, websites, and data brokers — and you don’t have to do it all yourself.

September 5, 2024

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What Personal Information Can People Find About You Online?

Your personal data is everywhere online. Not only do most people freely share contact information and personal details on social media — but nearly every app, website, and service you use collects personally identifiable information (PII). This can include data ranging from your name and phone number to bank details or even your Social Security number (SSN).

What’s worse is that even if these services use legitimate data collection policies, they may nor reliably protect your sensitive information.

In 2024, major data breaches at AT&T, Ticketmaster, and National Public Data leaked billions of pieces of personal data online [*].

Whether you’re looking to increase your privacy, avoid online harassment, or make yourself a less vulnerable target for hacking, scams, and identity theft, one of the best things you can do is remove as much of your personal information from the internet as possible.

How To Remove Your Personal Information From the Internet

Too much of an online presence can open you up to serious risks — from hacking and scams to stalking and even identity theft. While there are tools and steps you can take to remove your personal information from the internet, the process is often frustrating and time-consuming.

Here are the easiest and most painless ways to quickly minimize your online footprint:

Step 1: Remove Personal Information From Google

A simple Google search can show you just how much personal information is easily available to scammers and anyone else. Start by limiting what others can find out about you by using Google’s tools.

Remove your personal information from Google search results

Google’s information removal request form helps reduce the amount of personal information available in public search engine results. This won’t remove your information from the website that’s hosting them — but it can ensure your data won’t show up in search results.

Here’s what to do:

Google your name, and note any website that is hosting your details. This includes your government-issued ID, bank account numbers, login credentials, and contact information.
Submit a Google request to remove your personal information. You can provide details about what to remove and whether you’ve already contacted the website owner. Google will review your request and may reach out for more information.

Blur sensitive photos in Google Maps

You — and other people — can access street-view data for almost every location in the United States, including personally identifiable data about your home and your vehicle’s license plates.

Here’s what to do:

Search for your home address to find the image you’d like to remove on Google Maps. Any image of your home, vehicle, or other property could pose a risk to your identity and security.
Click on “Report a Problem” and select which part of the image you’d like to be blurred along with a description (such as your vehicle’s make and color). Explain that your request is for personal safety and privacy concerns.

This process may take longer if Google does not own the Google Maps photo in question. You can still report user-submitted photos, but you’ll have to wait for Google to ask the photo’s owner to blur it. If the owner doesn’t comply, Google may take down the photo on its own.

Disable web and app activity tracking in your Google Account

Google uses your search history to provide a more personalized experience. However, this information — including voice and audio recordings — can potentially be shared with other services.

Here’s what to do:

Log in to your Google account, and go to the MyActivity page.
Select “Saving Activity” and turn it off to stop Google from tracking you.
Use the More Activity page to turn off your “Location History” and “YouTube History.”

📚 Related: How To Protect Your Identity Online in 2024 →

Step 2: Remove Personal Information From Third-Party Websites and Apps

Getting your personal information removed from third-party apps and websites — including online shopping sites, forums, and other tools — can be more difficult. Often, you need to research the site owners and contact them directly.

Reach out to websites, and request the removal of your information

Revisit the list of sites you found on Google that are sharing your personal information and photos. For each one, you’ll want to contact the site owner and request that they remove your information. But be aware that many sites won’t respond or comply.

Here’s what to do:

Research the site owner of any website or service that is hosting your personal information. For example, you could look under the “Contact Us” page for the webmaster’s email address, or check a public database like Whois search and look for the site’s “Admin email” or “Registrant email.”
Reach out with your request to remove your personal information, and document the process (including screenshots of the information, along with your email).

Pro tip: Use the same process to request the removal of your personal information from web archiving sites like The Wayback Machine, Ghost Archive, and Stanford Web Archive. These websites periodically record snapshots of website pages and may contain archived copies of your personal information or online activity.

📚 Related: Deep Web vs. Dark Web — What You Need To Know →

Deactivate accounts and apps that you rarely use

Most online stores, Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms, streaming providers, and payment apps ask you to set up an account that includes personal information like your name, address, and credit card number. While this can make it more convenient when you log in or check out, it also puts your private information at risk of being leaked or shared with third parties without your consent.

Here’s what to do:

Close down old accounts. Unfortunately, there’s no automated way to log in to every online account you have and delete your data. You have to do this manually, choosing the accounts you wish to keep open.
Audit the apps on your phone. For those that you don’t use, log in and delete your account (don’t just delete the app, as this doesn’t remove your account information).
Start using guest accounts for e-commerce. While checking out as a guest can make the checkout process slightly longer, it offers better data protection.

Opt out of public data broker sites and services

Data brokers and people search sites like Whitepages, Spokeo, Radaris, or People Finder scrape public records and online sources for your private information and create personas to sell to marketers (or anyone else).

Unfortunately, there are hundreds of data broker services in the United States — and trying to remove your data from all of them can be an extremely lengthy and complicated process.

Here’s what to do:

Opt out manually from all data brokers selling your information. Privacy Right maintains a database of most data brokers in the United States and provides information on how to opt out of them. Unfortunately, many data brokers will re-add your information, which requires you to regularly monitor them.
Alternatively, you can use an automatic data broker opt-out service. Data removal services, such as Aura, DeleteMe, and Incogni, regularly scan data broker databases and send removal requests on your behalf.

🧼 Let Aura clean up your online presence. Aura’s all-in-one online privacy and digital safety app automatically scans data brokers for your information and sends takedown requests on your behalf — plans start at just $3/month.

Step 3: Clean Up Your Social Media and Content

You may be inadvertently sharing sensitive information with anyone who searches for you on social media — unless you change your settings.

Update your privacy settings

If you don’t want to delete your social media accounts, you should limit who can see your personal information and content. Here’s how to access your privacy settings on popular social media platforms:

Facebook

Open your account menu in the top right corner.
Select Settings & Privacy, and then Settings.
Under Audience and visibility, select the option you want to adjust. For example, you can change privacy settings for profile details, how people find and contact you, posts, stories, followers, and public content.

Instagram

Select More in the bottom left, and then Settings.
Click on Account privacy below Who can see your content.
Slide the toggle next to Private Account to make your account private.
Select Switch to private to confirm.

LinkedIn

Select Me in the top right corner, and then Settings & Privacy in the dropdown menu.
Select Visibility to view your privacy settings.
Adjust the settings to your preferences, deciding who can see your profile details, content, connections, etc.

X (Twitter)

Tap or click on your profile picture on the top left, and then scroll down the menu to select Settings and Support.
Select Settings and Privacy, and then Privacy and Safety.
Go to Audience and tagging; then switch the toggle next to Protect your posts so that the platform only shows your posts to people who follow you.

Archive or delete old content

There’s a good chance your digital footprint includes old posts, images, and content you’ve completely forgotten about. Not only can this content expose your personal information — it also provides prime targets for hackers who can take over your accounts and use them to scam your friends and family members.

Here’s what to do:

Search for sites, apps, and tools that you used in the past. These may come up in a Google search of your name or old online handles.
Consider deleting, archiving, or limiting access to these sites and content.

Pro tip: To completely remove your information from the internet, delete old social media profiles, email accounts, and other similar accounts. This is the only way to ensure that hackers can't find or access them.

Step 4: Proactively Protect Your Personal Information

The risk of falling victim to identity theft increases as your digital footprint grows, and over 41% of all Americans say they’re worried about how companies might use their personal information [*].

Here are the steps you can take to protect your personal information online:

Check if your passwords have been leaked. You can check if your passwords have been stolen or leaked online in a data breach by using tools like Aura's free leaked password scanner or HaveIBeenPwned.
Secure your online accounts. Protect all of your online accounts with complex and unique credentials as well as two-factor authentication (2FA). For the best security, use an authenticator app like Authy or Google Authenticator for receiving secure 2FA codes. Aura’s secure password manager makes it easy to create and store unique, complex login credentials for every account.
Create a secondary email address for new services. Rather than exposing your primary email address to security risks, use a secondary email address exclusively for signing up for new services, newsletters, and e-commerce accounts.
Use anti-tracking tools. Prevent websites and online services from tracking you by using anti-track tools or privacy-focused browsers, such as Brave. Aura’s privacy plans include anti-tracking tools as well as a virtual private network (VPN), scam and phishing site protection, and more.
Sign up for identity theft protection and monitoring. An identity theft protection platform can protect you with 24/7 monitoring across the internet and Dark Web. These services look for critical pieces of your identity — including your credit files, bank accounts, passwords, and SSN. You’ll be notified about any suspicious activity in near real-time, such as if someone opens a new account in your name or if your passwords are leaked in a data breach.

How To Keep Your Information Off of the Internet

While you can work tirelessly to remove your personal information from the internet, it’s better to simply share less and make yourself a smaller target.

Here are some easy online cybersecurity habits that will help you protect your privacy:

Don’t rely on state or federal laws to protect your online privacy. Unlike the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), U.S. privacy laws are fragmented by state, industry, data type, and circumstances. As of this year, only California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia have passed modern data protection legislation [*].
Control what you share on social media. Limit the amount of photos and location data that you share with the public on your social media profile. This precaution will make it harder for hackers to trick you (or others) with social engineering attacks and phishing scams.
Think twice about installing new apps. 56% of Americans admit they often click on "agree" immediately without reading privacy policies [*]. Make sure to check out reviews for any new app or service, and always download directly from the App Store or Google Play store rather than from third-party websites.
Don’t link accounts unless absolutely necessary. Single sign-on technology (SSO) lets you log in to multiple services with a single set of credentials, like your Google or Facebook account. While this is convenient, it also creates a single point of failure in your security. If your Google or Facebook account is hacked, the perpetrators could access all linked accounts with one password.
Avoid public Wi-Fi unless you use a virtual private network (VPN). Hackers can intercept information any time you use unsecured public Wi-Fi. If you’re at a hotel or airport, a VPN will encrypt your browsing activity as you enter sensitive data on banking or shopping websites.‍
Don’t share sensitive data via unsecured channels. Even privacy-oriented apps like WhatsApp and Telegram have security weaknesses. Avoid sharing sensitive information in case your account (or a contact's device) is compromised.
Don’t be fooled by Incognito mode. Google Chrome's private browsing option doesn't protect your online accounts or privacy any more than a regular browser. It only prevents other people – like family members – from seeing your internet history on your device. A better option is to use a VPN to encrypt your online activity.

Protecting your privacy and personal data can feel like a full-time job. With Aura, you get a full suite of features that help protect your privacy, personal information, and finances from scammers.

Stay safe (and private) online with Aura — plans start at just $3/month.

Editorial note: Our articles provide educational information for you to increase awareness about digital safety. Aura’s services may not provide the exact features we write about, nor may cover or protect against every type of crime, fraud, or threat discussed in our articles. Please review our Terms during enrollment or setup for more information. Remember that no one can prevent all identity theft or cybercrime.

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