How to Go Off the Grid (Part 1)
Now that Internet Service Providers have been allowed to share their clients’ personal information such as browsing history with advertisers, it is the high time that you learn how to go off the grid. Here is part 1 of how to go off the grid without breaking a sweat or breaking any existing laws.
Delete/Deactivate Shopping, Web Service, and Shopping Accounts
If you are active Internet user, you probably have registered at various social networks including the less popular platforms such as MySpace and Tumblr need to be deleted. You also have one or two shopping accounts in leading e-commerce sites such as eBay and Amazon. Get rid of these accounts by either removing or deactivating them by going to the Security or Privacy section of the respective accounts.
Remove Personal Data Stored in Data Collection Sites
Certain company sites collect personal data. These sites are commonly referred to as data brokers who later sell the information to marketers and advertisers. Ideally, they have mechanisms for collecting information about everything activity that you do online.
Identify this kind of sites and search for yourself then contact the support team to remove your details. The procedure for opting out varies from one site to another. There are also service companies that can assist you to delete your personal information. One good example is Abine.com that has offers a DeleteMe service.
Remove Your Details Directly From Service Websites
The first step that you need to take is checking if your phone company or cell provider has listed your information online. If they have done that, contact the support team and request them to remove your name.
If you are a member of a forum and posted an old embarrassing blog or article, contact the webmaster of those sites and request them to delete your account and the post. You can quickly find the contact details of the administrators at the Contact Us or About Us section of the respective websites. Alternatively, you can leverage WhoIS.com to know the real owners of the domains, their email address, and even phone numbers.
According to cnet.com, private website operators have full control over their sites and are not legally obligated to honor your request. Therefore, it is recommended to be polite when contacting them. Clearly, state the reasons why you would want the post deleted from the database.
These are the first three steps that you can take to start off your journey to go off the grid. In part 2, we will look three other tips to help you achieve this objective.
