8 Steps for Students to Remove Their Digital Footprints

Written By YOurLover on Sunday, September 28, 2014 | 9:04 PM

September, 2014
One of the essential parts of the digital citizenship I have been long talking about in this blog is about digital footprints. Students need to know that whatever they do or create online leaves behind a trail or digital breadcrumbs that others can trace. This "others" can be anyone from prospective employers, to college admission boards, anything you do online should be vetted by a critical lens and if "you don't want your parents to know about it then better not do it".

One of the simplest and effective ways to track your digital footprints is through Googling yourself. Just remember that when you Google yourself make sure you are logged off from your Google account. Next step is to delete things that you don't want the 'others' I mentioned above to know about you. This handy visual proposes 8 steps for you to completely remove your digital footprints:

Step 1
Deactivate primary accounts ( e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn..etc)
Step 2
Search for yourself using popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Ask, Bing…etc.
Step 3
For the accounts that you can't delete, post fake information.
Step 4
Unsubscribe from mailing lists
Step 5
delete search engine results
Step 6
For websites that you have no control over you will need to personally contact webmaster
Step 7
Consider data clearing houses
Step 8
Check in with your phone company