If you’re reading this, it’s highly likely your personal information is available to the public. And by “public” I mean everyone everywhere. And while you can never remove yourself completely from the internet, there are ways to minimize your online footprint. Here are five ways to do it.
Be warned however; removing your information from the internet, as I’ve laid it out below, may adversely affect your ability to communicate with potential employers.
1. Delete or deactivate your shopping, social network, and Web service accountsThink about which social networks you have profiles on. Aside from the big ones, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, do you still have public accounts on sites like Tumblr, Google+ or even MySpace? What about your Reddit account? Which shopping sites have you registered on? Common ones might include information stored on Amazon, Gap.com, Macys.com and others.
To get rid of these accounts, go to your account settings and just look for an option to either deactivate, remove or close your account. Depending on the account, you may find it under Security or Privacy, or something similar.
If you’re having trouble with a particular account, try searching online for “How to delete,” followed by the name of the account you wish to delete. You should be able to find some instruction on how to delete that particular account.
If for some reason you can’t delete an account, change the info in the account to something other than your actual info. Something fake or completely random.
[excerpted]http://www.cbsnews.com/news/5-ways-to-delete-yourself-from-the-internet/