Scrub Your Digital Footprint and Avoid Blackmail Online

Scrub Your Digital Footprint and Avoid Blackmail Online

Whether you like it or not, the Internet has become a necessary component of our everyday life. It opens many doors to personal development, business activities, and entertainment. On the other hand, the World Wide Web also forces us to leave a trail of private data which can be used against us by hackers. All that information you share online, either on purpose or accidentally, makes up your digital footprint. These small traits might be exploited by cybercriminals for identity theft, extortion, or other despicable purposes.

In this guide, we want to share some tips that will help you secure critical data, protect your online reputation, as well as reduce the likelihood that you will be attacked by hackers. Learn how to scrub your digital footprint and avoid blackmail online.

What Is Your Digital Footprint

Digital footprint refers to all the bits and pieces that may be found online about you. Among them, the obvious examples include social media, email accounts, online transactions, website registrations, and even public records. Experts often underline the difference between the two most common kinds of digital footprints:

  • Active Digital Footprint: All the information you consciously publish on the Internet, such as blog posts, social media comments, shared photos, and videos.
  • Passive Digital Footprint: Data collected without your active participation, i.e. browsing history, tracking cookies, and company-stored information.

All your mouse moves, clicks, and interactions leave a trail. Even when you are reading this article, your browser is sharing some data with our website. No need to worry, though—it is all safe and legal. Nevertheless, digital footprints, both small and large, are left everywhere you go online.

Time to learn how to get rid of excess information shared on the Internet, right?

How to Scrub Your Digital Footprint

Effectively scrubbing your digital footprint will lead you to safeguard your privacy and data. As a result, you will be less likely to become a victim of online blackmail. Before we explain the importance of such activity, here is how you can take care of your Internet footprint step by step:

  1. Check Your Online Persona

To properly scrub your digital footprint, you need to know exactly what information is available about you online. Check out these tips to explore your own persona on the net:

  • Google Yourself: Type in your full name and see what results the search engine will produce. Perform the same tactic for your e-mail address and usernames. Look if there is any personal data available that could potentially be exploited.
  • Review Social Media: See how your social networking profiles look from the outside by checking them from a different account. Also, review your old posts for any personal and sensitive information you might have shared in the past.
  • Check For Breaches: Use online tools such as Have I Been Pwned to see if your email address, phone number, or any other personal data has been compromised. Furthermore, review if the websites you are using have also been breached.

  1. Delete Unwanted Data and Accounts

Time to clean up your online mess. Start with unused or forgotten accounts on some old websites you used to cherish a few years back. Ask yourself, when was the last time you used your Pinterest, 9Gag, Reddit, or Tumblr accounts? Locate them, and try logging in, if you still remember your old credentials.

Once you are in, request account deletion, if you do not need it anymore. However, before you close an account, remove all sensitive data stored on the platform. These include old messages, photos, personal data, and payment details.

  1. Change Your Social Media Privacy Settings

Even though data breaches are in decline, they still pose a serious threat to vulnerable Internet users. If they are ever to happen, it is most likely that cybercriminals will target social media accounts. That is why you should protect your privacy by following the guidelines below:

  • Switch On Private Account: Go to your social media account settings and change privacy settings so that unwanted people will not access what you post online.
  • Limit Sharing Online: Think twice before posting any photo, video, comment, or status updates, especially those that include locations and sensitive data.
  • Delete Old Content: No need to keep those pics and vids from the past if you do not wish for them to be misused by cyber bullies.
  • Control Tags: Disable automatic tagging to prevent people from sharing your data and location with others without your specific consent.
  • Use Robust Passwords: Turn on Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and consider using a password manager app to secure your logging credentials.

  1. Scrub Your Digital Footprint in Search Engine Results

It takes time for search engines to recalibrate their results. In many cases, even long after deleting content or accounts, they will still appear on Google. That is why you need to take matters into your own hands to clean it all up:

  • Request Search Results Removal: Get your hands down on Google’s URL Removal Tool to ask for the deletion of outdated and sensitive data.
  • Reach Out to Website Owners: Contact third-party websites to request taking down all private information if it is still visible online.

  1. Reduce Leaving New Digital Footprint

You can scrub your digital footprint, but what is the point, if you are just going to create new traces of online activity? It would be best to reduce your exposure to potential leaks and blackmailers. Here is how you can do that:

  • Use a VPN: A Virtual Private Network—or VPN—enables tunneling your network connection to hide your IP and encrypt your actions on the Internet.
  • Delete Cookies and Browsing History: Cookies are great, but they are best in a kitchen cupboard; regularly clear your browser to limit tracking.
  • Use Incognito Mode: Even if it is not the safest way to browse the Internet, private mode prevents websites from storing a lot of private information.
  • Disallow Data Collection: Whenever possible, do not agree to the websites’ privacy policy in terms of collecting data while using their resources.

How Scrubbing Digital Footprint Helps Avoid Blackmail Online

Taking care of all the digital trails you leave behind makes it more challenging for cyber bullies to blackmail you. These criminals often refer to threats and intimidations based on publicly accessible content, old social media posts, or leaked data. You can reduce the probability of falling victim to cybercriminals by taking proactive steps in sensitive data removal. Identify all kinds of gaps in your online security, and you will become more anonymous on the Internet. This way it will be more difficult to find specific information about your persona.

Scrub, Scrub, Scrub… A Final Word

The highly digitalized modern world requires a more sophisticated approach to safeguarding your online presence. Scrubbing the digital footprint left behind translates to lowering the danger of being blackmailed by cybercriminals. 

Blackmailers are on the hunt for sensitive data they can use to their advantage. Reduce all kinds of extortion dangers and ensure a safer online experience by following the procedures we have discussed in this article. Stay safe out there!