Managing Personal Data Online: Techniques to Stay Private‍

85% of adults want to do more to protect their online privacy. And we have to ask—do you know how safe your online data is? According to Gartner, '75% of the world's population will have their personal data covered under modern privacy regulations'. But, realistically, will that do much? Hackers still have the most refined techniques and technology most of us will never understand to hack into accounts.

And our data is everywhere—browser history, social media posts and likes, saved contact details, and the list goes on.

Still, there are ways to stay private, like using data removal tools and VPNs, but we feel there's more understanding needed for people's online safety to actually be safe. Read on to find out more.

Understanding Data Collection and Its Risks

Do you even know how your data is being collected?

Every individual interacts with data in one environment or another. To be better able to handle data, there are certain strategies you must understand about the data: literally every company and organization is gathering information about you online and how they're using it.

Websites and apps use your information by making you fill out questionnaires, accepting cookies, tracking movements, and saving your personal information at the checkout. You can start to picture how often it happens.

Every e-commerce and social media platform has mastered collecting information they can later use to provide customized advertisements to their users. But that's not all they do. Other data brokers control and sell data that ranges from your name and postal address to your purchasing tendencies and social media interactions once they have access to it either illegally or because you agreed to it without knowing.

Having your data on multiple platforms and providers is very risky. It may lead to being targeted, forced with advertisements, identity theft, or even total loss of privacy.

Steps to Manage and Minimize Personal Data

Review Privacy Settings

How often do you review your privacy settings? Experts think you should be doing it annually. It's so much easier to manage your personal information than it is to collect it, and one of the easiest methods is to change privacy settings for platforms and apps that you use. For example, social networking sites allow privacy restrictions on personal details, who users can contact, and who gets to see their posts. You can also change your browser privacy settings or always browse in incognito mode.

Delete Unused Accounts

How many accounts do you have that you don't use? Delete them!

Closing these dormant accounts prevents access to old accounts or risks exposing personal information. It's so easy to do, you only have to have the will to do it.

Limit Information You Share Online

Pay attention to what is considered necessary. To a certain extent, websites utilize more data than is necessary because we're giving it to them. For example, when deciding to join a newsletter, is it really important to give out your phone number and date of birth?

Using Tools to Minimize Online Data

There's no measure completely guaranteeing 100% protection, but there are measures that can enable you to detach yourself and remain discerningly anonymous to individuals searching for information online. We included a link in the introduction for you.

Data Removal Tools

Let's give you more information on these tools - not enough people know about them.

It's so easy to remove most of your data online (remember, it can't be 100%) using the data removal tools. The primary objective of these services is to discover every place a specific data broker has your data and, therefore, delete it. This is especially useful for those who want to prevent the purchasing or trading of their information - trust us, it happens often.

One of the massive concerns people have to be worried about is the exposure of their personal data on the internet. If you're not worried about it, we hope we've at least made you a little bit more aware of just how much of your data will be online and how to remove it!

To expand on the importance and usage of data removal tools, it’s essential to understand how these services function and the layers of protection they can provide. The internet has become a vast repository of personal data, much of which you may not even be aware is being collected. Data brokers gather your information from public records, social media, online purchases, and even the websites you visit. They then package and sell this data to advertisers, marketers, or even other data brokers. This data can include your name, address, phone numbers, and even more sensitive details like your financial information or health records.

These data removal tools serve as a critical line of defense in an era where privacy is becoming increasingly elusive. They automate the process of opting out from data brokers’ lists, saving you the time and effort of doing it manually. If you were to try to delete your data manually, you’d have to contact each data broker individually, follow their opt-out processes, and then monitor your data to ensure it doesn’t reappear. This is both time-consuming and often frustrating, as some brokers make the process deliberately difficult. Data removal tools simplify this task by doing the heavy lifting for you, continuously scanning for your data and ensuring it remains off these platforms.

It’s also worth noting that while these tools are incredibly effective, they aren’t foolproof. As mentioned earlier, achieving 100% data privacy is nearly impossible. There will always be some data that remains accessible or some platforms that are difficult to remove information from. Nevertheless, even reducing your data footprint significantly can minimize your risk of identity theft, spam calls, or having your data sold without your consent. Every step you take to protect your privacy is a step toward regaining control over your personal information in a world where data is currency.

For those who are particularly vigilant about privacy, combining data removal tools with other security measures is a good practice. This could include using a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to mask your online activities, regularly updating your passwords, and enabling two-factor authentication on your accounts. Additionally, being mindful of the information you share online, whether it’s through social media or email subscriptions, can prevent further data collection.