Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – All activities we do on the internet will be recorded as digital traces. For example, information related to sites visited, e-mails shared, searches on social media, to information submitted when registering for an online service account.
This digital footprint can be used for many things. On the positive side, when you visit a page that has been opened before, your personal data is automatically saved so you don't need to re-enter it.
However, digital traces stored on search engine services such as Google, or social media such as TikTok and Instagram, as well as those held by cellphone manufacturers, can also be used for advertising purposes.
If you are uncomfortable with this practice, there are ways to erase your digital footprint on the internet.
1. Using Incognito
In this way, the application will not record the destination site and will not save the keywords used by the user. But remember, this doesn't mean you can escape supervision.
For example, when you log in to Facebook, social media will record your activities. To mask your ISP, use a VPN when using the internet.
2. Potential Data Leaks
You should also check whether you are a victim of a data leak, considering that there have been many cases that have happened to several platforms recently, including Yahoo and Adobe. How to use the Have I Been Pwned page? to find out whether data has been leaked.
After entering the website, fill in the e-mail address used. Next you will see whether your data has been leaked or not.
3. Delete All Cookies
This method means that no more sites can track you. Deleting cookies can be done across browsers such as Chrome and Firefox.
Cookies can be deleted one by one or all at once with the help of a third party such as Advanced System Optimizer.
4. Limiting Tracking
Some data may be tracked by the app. However, some of them let users use Incognito mode if requested.
It's best to check your app settings first to stop tracking. If you don't find this option, delete all activity manually. The process varies depending on the operating system used.
5. Delete Search History (history)
A number of applications rely on storing user data locally or in the cloud, so they can connect information to other devices. This means to delete search logs from mobile phone delete records on various platforms.
For example, a Google account stores the search history of your Android phone. To delete it, access Google from the web and go to the activity history page and delete it.
6. DeleteMe Service
Data collectors, such as Spokeo, Whitepages.com and PeopleFinder, will collect information and sell it to third parties. DeleteMe or DesseatMe services can help to clean digital traces.
View Google's stored data
To erase digital traces, internet users should also check their activity data stored by Google.
In daily internet activities, Google is the one that is probably used most often. However, you need to know that the technology giant is tracking the movements of its users.
This tracking even occurs even though the user has turned off location history on the platform.
Please note, data stored after tracking is turned off will not be lost. Google will not store information in the future, but previously stored data will not be deleted.
How to delete internet history
Apart from ensuring that you are not tracked on the internet, you can also erase digital traces on your cellphone and cellphone. The way to do this is to regularly delete your browsing history in your browser.
Here's how:
1. Google Chrome
To delete history in Google Chrome, click the three dots to enter the menu. Next, select Settings and in the sidebar open the Privacy & Security menu.
Next select Clear browsing data. You must select the time period you want to delete, then click Clear data.
As a note, if you set the browser to sync with another computer via a Google account then when you delete history on one device the same thing will happen on another device.
2. Mozilla Firefox
First click the three horizontal lines on the right to enter the menu. Then select Settings > Privacy & Security and scroll down to Cookies & Site Data.
You can delete all data and manage data to have control over what is deleted. Additionally, check the box that deletes browsing data every time you close Firefox if you don't want to do it manually.
3. Safari
In Safari, first open the menu and click Clear History. Select the time range for which you want to delete data and click Clear History.
When deleting history in Safari, you cannot get the option to delete various types of data. So cookies and cache files are also deleted.
4. Microsoft Edge
Windows 11 users can delete their history by pressing the three dots on the right. Continue by selecting Settings from the menu that appears.
On the Privacy menu, find Clear browsing data and click Choose what to clear. Make a choice from the list, including browsing history, cache data. Finally click Clear Now.
5. Opera
The first step is to click the Settings icon on the right side of the address bar. In the menu that appears, scroll and find Privacy & Security next to Browsing data then click Clear.
Next, you can choose the type of data you want to delete, including determining the time period. Once everything is done, click Clear Data.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
(fab/fab)