Ask HN: What Are the Best Current Methods to Delete Yourself from the Internet?
The problem is that the user has no control over his data, so you are at the mercy of the service provider.<p>Surprisingly, a <i>lot</i> of websites/services don't even give you the option to delete your account.<p>Best method to delete yourself from the internet:<p>* make a list of all services you are on<p>* if a service lets you delete your account, delete it<p>* if there is no delete option, email customer support and ask them to delete your account. Most sites will not create a fuss about it though it takes time and lots of back and forth with the customer support<p>* search for yourself on google and ask google to remove links to your profiles(social media). They won't remove links to eg- articles about you, since it does not belong to you<p>Depending on how generous you were with your personal info, it is most likely not possible to delete yourself completely.<p>Funny story: I had a LinkedIn account where I signed up with only my email ID and gave no personally identifiable info(like a fake account). A few days later I get an SMS from LinkedIn telling me person XYZ sent me a request or something. How the f_uck did you get my number? To say the least, that scared me so I deleted the account.<p>Also note that when a service <i>deletes</i> your account and data, it is more often a soft delete so your data is still with them. Good luck getting a hard deletion of your account/data.