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Welcome to the MonDive
Today in MonDive, we’re looking at how to clean up your digital footprint and reduce the personal information you leave online.
We’ll explore what strangers can find about you, which forgotten accounts still hold your details, and how to take back control, with practical steps to leave less of your personal life online.
Alright, let’s dive in.
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Why This Matters
An account you forgot about can still hold information you would never share today.
Think about an online store you used once, a forum you joined years ago, or a profile created before you moved house. You stopped using them. That does not necessarily mean they stopped holding your details.
What bothers me is how easy it is to lose track. We make decisions about what to share today, while older information sits outside our attention.
You do not have to disappear from the internet to take some control back. A useful starting point is to check what is still there, remove what you no longer need, and decide what you are comfortable leaving behind.
1. Remove Your Information From People Search Sites
People search sites can list your address, phone number, and relatives even if you never signed up. They gather these details from public records and other sources.
For US listings, start with Spokeo, Whitepages, and BeenVerified. Elsewhere, check services that display your information.
SPOKEO:
Open Spokeo.
Search your name and find your listing. Right-click the blue name and select Copy link address.
Open the Spokeo opt-out page and scroll down to the form. Paste your profile link, enter your email, complete the CAPTCHA, and click Opt Out.
Whitepages:
Find your listing on Whitepages and copy its link.
Paste it into the opt-out form and click Next.
Click Remove Me, choose a removal reason, then click Next.
Enter the required information and complete verification.
BeenVerified:
Open the opt-out page and search your name and state.
Find your listing and click Proceed to Opt Out.
Enter your email, complete the CAPTCHA, and click Send Verification Email.
Open the email and click Verify Opt-Out to confirm your request.
Do all three. Ten minutes, and it clears most of what a stranger can dig up.
2. Remove Your Personal Information From Google Search
Google Search can show pages containing your phone number, email, or home address. You can ask Google to remove these results to make your personal details harder to find.
Search your name and copy the links to pages showing your private details.
Open Google’s removal form and select Content contains your personal information.
Follow the questions, add the page links and any requested screenshots, then submit.
Check your email for updates or requests for more information.
Google will review your request and email you the outcome. An approved request can help keep your personal details out of search results.
3. Hunt Down Old Accounts
You’ve signed up for plenty of websites over the years. Some may still hold your details, even if you’ve stopped using them.
Open Gmail and search "verify your email" to find signup messages.
Pick services you no longer use and sign in on their official websites.
Look under Account or Privacy settings and follow the deletion instructions.
4. See What’s Already Out
A service you use may have suffered a data breach without you knowing. Have I Been Pwned lets you check whether your email appears in known breaches recorded in its database.
Open Have I Been Pwned and search your email address.
Review the listed breaches and the types of information exposed.
If a password was exposed and you haven’t changed it since, replace it on that service’s official website.
Used that password elsewhere? Change those accounts too, using a different password for each.
5. Clear Your Google Activity
Google can save your searches, YouTube history, and other activity, depending on your settings. You can delete saved history and control what gets recorded next.
Open My Activity and sign in.
Select Delete → All time, review the options, then confirm.
Open Activity controls and turn off Web & App Activity and YouTube History.
Check Timeline (formerly Location History) separately to turn it off and delete saved location history.
Clearing past activity and switching off future saving are separate actions. Turning a setting off does not automatically delete its existing history.
Note: Clearing history can remove saved trips and watched-video records and affect recommendations. Keep what you use, or choose auto-delete for older activity.
Keep More of Your Life Private
Once you’ve cleaned up the past, be more selective about what you share next.
Limit your audience. Share personal updates with people you trust, and avoid posting your live location.
Review app permissions. Only allow access to your contacts, photos, or location when needed.
Enable two-step verification. Start with your email and other important accounts.
Be careful with unexpected links. Open the official app or website to check urgent requests.
Keep automatic updates on. They help fix security weaknesses in your devices and apps.
The goal isn’t to disappear from the internet. It’s to have more say in what you leave behind.
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And that's a wrap on today's MonDive!
