How to Take Control of Your Online Presence

Many of us don’t realize just how much we share about ourselves on the internet. Social media provides us with a fast, efficient, and exciting way to share our interests and experiences with our friends, but who outside of our sphere REALLY needs to know all this information about us?

The internet never forgets—old accounts, personal information, and forgotten posts can linger for years. Unfortunately, this can put us at risk for spear phishing attacks, identity theft, and other forms of data compromise. So, let’s look at a few quick ways to review our media footprint and spring-clean our media presence.

Step 1: Assess What’s Out There

Why It Matters:

It’s important to understand how attackers think. When an attacker is building a pretext, they want to know where you work, who your friends are, what hobbies you have, and what you care about. Why? Because that’s how they make their message irresistible and personal to each target. The more information you put out there, the easier the job becomes.

Google Yourself

An easy first step to assess what is out there is to google yourself! Search your name, email addresses, home address, phone number, and usernames to see what information is publicly available.

Evaluate the contents of your current preferred social media platforms. Review old posts, images, and bio details on platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram. Some of these platforms allow you to preview what your page looks like from a public perspective; this can be enlightening in addition to reviewing your overall privacy settings.

Consider Information from External Sources

Keep in mind that information about you might not just be found on your own pages. Friends and acquaintances may have posts, photos, or even comments with details or photos that can be traced to you because of known associations. Information may even be in news articles or blogs.

Historical information can still exist on platforms you no longer use, such as Xanga, Myspace, IRC, AIM, ICQ, Orkut, LiveJournal, and USENET, or in resources like the Internet Archive. Even if you’re not actively using them, some of these accounts may still be accessible.

Another place to check is websites like Spokeo, Whitepages, and BeenVerified that collect personal information. Each of these pages have a process for requesting removal of that information.

Step 2: Locate and Manage Old Accounts

Keeping track of accounts that have been made over the years can be tough. Here are a few easy methods for tracking down old profiles you may not remember having anymore.

• Search Your Email for Account Registrations: Look for old sign-up confirmation emails to rediscover forgotten accounts.
• Use Account Search Tools: Websites like haveibeenpwned and whatsmyname can help find compromised or forgotten accounts.
• Check Password Managers: If you use a password manager, review stored logins for accounts you no longer use.

Don’t forget secondary email accounts! Many of us have created multiple email accounts over the years, and those can harbor a treasure trove of things you have forgotten you subscribed to.

Step 3: Delete or Secure Old Accounts

Many people can’t (or don’t want to) delete old accounts. Thats fine! Consider layers of defense, not just wiping history.

Once you’ve got a handle on what accounts and profiles may exist, take a few minutes to evaluate what you would like to do about them. Are they accounts you want to continue to maintain, or have they grown dusty with disuse? Once you’ve done your evaluation, you can move forward with some spring cleaning.

• Deactivate or Delete: If an account is no longer needed, follow the platform’s process to remove it.
• Update and Secure: If you want to keep an account, update weak passwords and enable two-factor authentication.
• Revise Privacy Settings: Adjust account settings to minimize the personal information visible to the public.

Step 4: Ongoing Digital Hygiene

Once you’ve done the hard work of finding and cleaning up your online presence, what are a few easy steps for maintaining that digital hygiene going forward?

Use a Secondary Email for Sign-ups:

This prevents your primary email from being tied to too many services. This helps both by keeping the history of signups and communications in one place, but also by quarantining it away from other personal communications. By quarantining your social media communications to a specific account, you can more easily identify potential spam activity if you receive unsolicited “account communication” sent to an unassociated email address. It can also serve as a red flag for potential spam activity if you receive unsolicited “account communication” to an unassociated email account.

Regularly Review Your Online Presence:

Online security is a lifelong habit, not a one-time clean-up project. Set a calendar reminder to check your accounts and update security settings. Making the process part of your routine can help with follow through. Consider tying the activity to other safety activities, like changing your fire alarm batteries, to increase your chance of doing both!

Stay Aware of Data Breaches:

Knowledge is power! Subscribe to breach notification services to help stay aware of whether your data has been compromised.

Maintaining awareness and control of your online presence requires effort, but it helps protect your privacy and security. Regularly reviewing old accounts and being mindful of what you share can help reduce risks and keep your digital identity safe.

Start today—Google yourself, check your accounts, and take steps to clean up your online footprint!

For further tips and tricks for maintaining your digital security check out our podcasts!

Written by
Faith Kent
Human Risk Analyst, Social-Engineer, LLC

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Security Through Education authored by Social-Engineer. Read the original post at: https://www.social-engineer.org/general-blog/how-to-take-control-of-your-online-presence/