How to Erase Your Digital Footprint
Go to a website. Send an email. Make a purchase with your credit card. All of this data is stored on your computer. It's considered your Digital Footprint. Did you delete it? Clear out your web history? Empty your recycle bin? THE DATA IS STILL ON YOUR COMPUTER! Deleting it, clearing your web history or emptying your recycle bin DOES NOT get rid of it. Traces of your data are maintained on your hard drive. These traces are called metadata. Metadata can be pieced together to recreate your history, your habits and even your personality. Hackers and other bad people can easily get this information from your computer. Learn how to protect yourself and your information.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
To sanitize the data on your hard drive, you must understand that your hard drive and all of the data will be completely scrubbed and deleted. If there is data on your hard drive that you do not want deleted, then you need to save it elsewhere temporarily. You can do this on a backup hard drive, external hard drive or a memory stick.
-
2
Move your applications and other data that you wish to save. Remember, whatever is left on your main hard drive will be scrubbed and deleted.
-
-
3
For this step, you will need to find the proper software to sanitize your hard drive. I have included a great program in my "resources" section below. It's called the Remo Drive Wipe. Take a look at it. This is all you need to keep your Digital Footprint in check.
-
4
Once you install and sanitize your hard drive, then you can reinstall the applications that you previously saved elsewhere. You should plan to clean your hard drive on a regular basis. If you are frequently on your computer, then I would recommend it to be done monthly.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Make sure that you save any data that you cannot do without onto another source - external hard drive, memory stick, etc.
