Summary

Are you annoyed when you find references to an item you looked up 3 weeks ago in your social media or email ad bar? Have you ever peeled yourself off the floor after looking yourself up on your favorite search engine? Controlling information about you online is easier said than done, but you can take steps to manage and reduce what is available.

1. Manage information that is shared. Some information is public domain, and there is little you can do to control this. However, you can be aware of your social media privacy settings and posts to forums. Managing information available online also may extend to asking friends and family to use care when posting pictures or other information about you.
2. Reduce information collection. Data brokers gather individuals’ information as a commodity, but some allow you to opt out of their activities. Find a summary of them at https://privacyrights.org/data-brokers. The opt out process varies but often requires an investment of time. Also, take care in your choice of web browser and search engine; some track you more than others.
3. Clean up the information already available. This time-intensive process involves signing into any outdated accounts and deleting the accounts and/or individual posts. Doing the dirty work by hand takes more time but avoids granting access to any service provider that offers to do the work for you.

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