Monday, August 26, 2013

You've Been Erased!

Deleting yourself from the internet is hard work.
Some say it's virtually impossible to erase your footprint from the Virtual World.
First, you have to decide where exactly you want to disappear - from social media sites to retailer databases. Then the bigger issue (for those of us not techno-savvy): you've gotta figure out how you're going to do all that!
Well, they say 'for every problem, there's a solution'...so here's something you may want to check out.
A site called JustDelete.me makes vanishing from the web much easier. Created by U.K. developer Robb Lewis, JustDelete.me is a directory of URLs that highlights links to pages you may want to remove yourself from, so you don't have to jump through hoops to do so. This includes sites like Facebook, Foursquare and the like.
Some companies use "dark pattern" techniques, which makes it difficult to delete accounts. This is meant to dissaude users from successfully completing the removal process. JustDelete.me ranks each site's process from "easy" to "impossible", so you know what to expect ahead of time. For example, NewYorkTimes.com and Amazon.com are rated as "hard" to delete, while movie directory IMDB.com and PayPal are listed as "easy." Sone sites such as Pinterest and Netflix are "impossible".
The promotional material trumpets: next time you want to call it quits with a site, visit JustDelete.me and save yourself a headache. Ahhhh, if only it really WAS that easy!
Better still, think first about the long-term implications before even signing up to a particular site...

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