This Pride, we’re answering all your digital rights questions in season two of our initiative,
LGBT Q&A
.
You Asked:
Is there a way for me to wipe data about me online that could point to my queer identity?
EFF’s Answer:
You cannot protect everything all the time, but there are ways to wipe information about yourself online.
Most information available about you online will typically be found in two places:
The
site
where you voluntarily posted the data, such as your pictures and videos on social media, comments in user reviews and forums, and even classified postings for items you’ve sold.
data broker
. These companies collect personal information, repackage it, and sell it to the highest bidders. This information often includes your address, phone number, details about your family members, and more.
So you might not want this information out there, especially if it points to your queer identity.
The best time to take steps to protect yourself is before anything bad happens, because once this information is in the hands of bad actors you have fewer options.
To see what information people might find about you online, you can
look for it for yourself
. This is as simple as opening up a search engine and entering your name, nickname, handle, avatar and seeing what comes up. It can also be worth searching for your address, phone number, and email addresses to check what's out there.
Do this in a private browsing window or a separate browser than the one you normally use to ensure you’re not logged into any accounts that might skew the results, like a Google account.
It’s also best to try to make a lot of your information hard to find in the first place—and we’ve got you covered on how to do this.
Establish a strong security baseline: use
unique passwords
(a
password manager
helps simplify this) and set up
two-factor authentication
for your online accounts to add an extra layer of protection when logging into your accounts.
