“Cleaning is not just about making things look tidy, it’s about taking care of yourself.”
The calendar says spring is officially here, someone needs to tell the clouds! Know what I don’t understand about spring? The innate need to clean! Thinking about cleaning leads to this months discussion about cleaning up your digital footprint. The idea was reinforced when I read a news clip about the guy that leaked the war plans. Apparently, he hasn’t turned on the security features for his Venmo account either. Let’s do better! In an attempt to maintain privacy and protect your personal information, here are some tips, compliments of ChatGPT, for cleaning up your digital foot print.
1. Review Social Media Accounts
Audit your profiles: Check all your social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) for outdated or personal information that you no longer want to share.
Delete old posts: Remove old posts, photos, or statuses that no longer represent who you are or that you find inappropriate.
Tighten privacy settings: Set your accounts to private, or limit who can see your posts. Review your followers and remove anyone you don’t know or trust.
Unfollow: Unfollow or disconnect from irrelevant or inappropriate accounts.
2. Delete or Deactivate Accounts
Delete unused accounts: Identify old or unused online accounts (forums, websites, apps) and delete them. You can use websites like JustDeleteMe to help you find ways to remove your accounts from various sites.
3. Search Engine Cleanup
Google Yourself: Search for your name, email address, and other personal information on Google. If any content you don’t want to appear comes up, consider contacting the site owner to request removal.
Request removal from search engines: Google allows users to request removal of certain outdated or personal information through their Remove Outdated Content tool.
4. Clean Up Email Accounts
Unsubscribe from newsletters: Use tools like Unroll.me to help you unsubscribe from unwanted email lists.
Delete old emails: Sort through your inbox and delete old or irrelevant emails. Use email management tools to clean up your inbox.
Use email aliases: Create separate email addresses for personal, professional, and public use to limit the exposure of your primary email address.
5. Manage Your Online Reputation
Engage in positive content creation: If there’s negative content about you online, push it down by generating positive content. Blog posts, social media updates, and online reviews can help shape your reputation.
Create and maintain a professional LinkedIn profile: A well-crafted LinkedIn profile can improve how you appear online professionally.
6. Review Your Browser History and Cookies
Clear browsing history: Go through your browser settings to delete your browsing history, cached images, and cookies.
Use private browsing: When browsing, consider using an incognito or private browsing mode to avoid storing information about your activity.
7. Check for Data Breaches
Monitor your email: Websites like HaveIBeenPwned can tell you if your email address has been involved in a data breach.
Change passwords: If your information has been exposed, change your passwords for those accounts immediately. Use strong and unique passwords for each site.
8. Use a VPN and Encrypted Communication
Use a VPN: A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can protect your browsing activity from being tracked by third parties.
Use encrypted messaging apps: Apps like Signal or WhatsApp offer end-to-end encryption to protect your communication.
Until next month, enjoy the Spring, with or without cleaning!
Janet
Because It Made Me Laugh!!
