How to Remove Yourself from the Internet in 2024

Have you ever Googled your own name and been surprised to see how much information is available to anyone who wants to find it? Thankfully, you can take back your power and privacy by taking a few simple steps to get your information removed from the internet in 2024.

Why protect your information?

It’s 2024, and it’s clear that artificial intelligence has brought a lot of changes to our daily lives. On one hand, AI image creation tools produce photorealistic images, and autocomplete is smarter than ever. On the other hand, people have found ways to use artificial intelligence to harm others. For example, there have been reports of scammers using voice models to impersonate their targets’ loved ones. The more information these scammers find about you, the more convincing their attacks will be.

Beyond that, the simple fact of the matter is that everyone’s privacy should be respected. It shouldn’t be that easy to reveal someone’s private life with a quick search on the web. As things stand, however, you currently have to fight for that privacy.

Delete unwanted Google search results

For users in the US or UK, Google actually offers a way to request that certain web pages (particularly those that reveal your personal information) be removed from its search results. If you discover that a site contains sensitive information, you can submit a request immediately to ensure that the site is not visible to future Google search users. Also, to help you be more proactive about protecting your internet privacy, Google also offers an “About You Results” feature that tracks potential instances of your details being published online.

But importantly, this feature doesn’t completely remove information from the web. If someone uses a different search engine, they may still find the page in question.

For more information, you can review Google’s About Your Results guidelines and removal process.

This may seem obvious, but another great way to keep your personal life off the internet is to not share it online in the first place. While social media platforms are a great way to connect with each other, they can also be the weakest link when it comes to digital privacy.

At the very least, it’s a good idea to log into your social media accounts and adjust who can view your profile, photos, and videos. For example, content posted to X/Twitter is permanently shared with the world unless your account is private, whereas platforms like Facebook allow you to fine-tune who can see your posts and profile details. If your friends and family can easily see information like your phone number, photos, or recent activity, that might be OK, but those details don’t need to be made public.

And don’t only do this for platforms you’re still actively using. Your long-abandoned accounts on Facebook, MySpace, etc. may still contain details and photos that you didn’t realize were still being shared. If you no longer use these accounts, back up all photos and memories, then delete the accounts entirely.

Remove yourself from Internet people search sites

Another common way your private life ends up online is through the work of a “data broker.” These brokers buy and sell the details of individuals from all walks of life to make money by violating your privacy. Sometimes, prospective employers and insurance companies use data broker information to learn more about you. Even worse, these same details can show up on people’s search sites, meaning anyone willing to pay for a subscription could find things like your phone number, where you live, your contacts and more information like that.

While these data brokers are required by law to take down your information if you formally ask them to do so, it’s a frustrating process that you need to repeat for each person who has your details. Even worse, if they find your information again after requesting deletion, it can be relisted.

Fortunately, it’s not a lost cause, thanks to our trusted friends at Incogni.

Created by the cybersecurity experts at Surfshark, Incogni takes the hassle out of regaining your internet privacy by fighting data brokers on your behalf. All you have to do is tell Incogni a little bit about yourself so it knows when someone is selling your privacy.

From there, Incogni handles all the rest, removing your information from the many data brokers and resolving any disputed claims. You can even watch the process through the accompanying dashboard, which shows the progress of each deletion.

Even better, you can use the code “Exclusive 55% off with Incogni Annual Plan”9 to 5 google” at checkout.

Make 2024 the year you take your personal life off the internet and regain your privacy.If you’d like to learn more about how to stay safe online and maintain your digital privacy, be sure to Follow Incogni on X/Twitter.