What is a digital footprint? You’ve probably heard the warning: once something is posted online, it’s there forever. That phrase may sound dramatic, but it captures a real and lasting truth about how the internet works. Once information is published, it becomes difficult, and often impossible, to fully erase.
Content published online is quickly indexed by search engines, shared across social media platforms, copied, cached, and reposted by countless websites. Even when the original post is deleted, replicas often remain. In practice, removing something entirely from the internet is nearly impossible.
Archive websites illustrate this problem clearly. These services preserve snapshots of webpages and social media posts, including content that users later delete. Years-old posts can still be accessed long after the author believed they were gone. And these archives don’t stop at social media; they capture news articles, blogs, forums, and personal websites as well.
More disturbing examples involve so-called “revenge porn,” in which an ex-partner posts intimate images without consent as an act of retaliation. Entire websites are dedicated to hosting and distributing these images. Even if a victim contacts site owners and requests removal, there is no guarantee the images will be taken down. Many operators simply refuse, especially when profit or notoriety outweighs basic decency.
A similar lack of control confronts victims of identity theft. Stolen personal information is often shared on dark web forums or sold through underground marketplaces that traffic in credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and other sensitive data. These sellers have no incentive to remove stolen information simply because the victim asks. Once data enters these networks, it spreads rapidly and persistently.
Some governments have begun to respond. California, for example, enacted the Delete Act, a law that gives residents greater control over how their personal information is collected and sold online. Signed by Gavin Newsom in October 2023, the law allows Californians to demand that data brokers delete their personal information, closing a major loophole in the data economy.
The legislation is widely seen as groundbreaking, but it remains the exception rather than the rule. Other states have yet to follow suit, and federal action remains unlikely. In fact, the Trump administration has consistently opposed state or international efforts to regulate big tech and artificial intelligence.
That resistance has extended beyond U.S. borders. When the United Kingdom announced an investigation into X for potential data privacy violations, the response from Washington was swift and hostile. The investigation focused in part on concerns about Grok generating child sexual abuse material and non-consensual deepfake nude images, and whether Elon Musk had taken adequate steps to prevent that abuse.
The UK’s inquiry wasn’t about censorship. It was about protecting people, particularly children, from exploitation and harm. Yet even those basic safeguards triggered political backlash.
So as governments debate, delay, or decline to act, the reality remains unchanged: our personal data is routinely collected, sold, and reused with minimal oversight. Until stronger protections are in place, individuals are largely left to fend for themselves.
Which raises the most important question of all: while we wait for lawmakers to catch up with technology, what practical steps can you take right now to reclaim some control over your digital footprint?
Five ways to shrink your digital footprint
1. Close old accounts
From Positive.News:
Myspace. EBay. Facebook. They were cool once, useful even. But the fast-changing digital space means users soon migrate to other platforms or retreat entirely – leaving valuable data behind. Do a stocktake of lapsed platforms, unused email accounts and other sites that you’re still signed up to, then log in and delete. Could it also be time to consider the ones you still use? Who’s getting more out of the relationship? A Silicon Valley tech bro or you?
2. Throw Out Your Junk
A quick rummage around your inbox, particularly the junk folder, will soon identify the origins of mail that’s of no use to you. Old insurance companies, comparison sites, shops you bought something on once spin off newsletters in the hopes that you’ll buy again. You may even have opted in by accident. At the bottom of every newsletter should be an option to unsubscribe. Click on that and look forward to the spam soon drying up.
3. Delete and Hide
After you delete apps you no longer use, make sure the ones you use aren’t tracking you.
On Apple devices:
- Go to ‘Settings’
- ‘Privacy’
- ‘Tracking’
- Make sure ‘Allow apps to request to track’ is disabled.
- Under ‘Location Services’ update the apps you allow to follow you on GPS.
On Android devices:
- Go to ‘Settings’
- ‘Locations’
- ‘App Locations Permissions’
- Go through the list of apps that are tracking you and disable them.
4. Contact Data Brokers and Tell Them to Delete Your Information
Web activity leaves a trail of data behind, which is gobbled up by data brokers to sell online. There are hundreds of these companies, many of which have your name, contact information, and other personal data.
If you fall under the protection of Europe’s GDPR or California’s Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to request that data brokers erase your information. Databrokerwatch.org provides a list of prominent brokers and supplies opt-out forms to facilitate the process of having your data removed more quickly.
5. Strengthen Your Browser Privacy
Preventing data brokers from monitoring your online activities is even more effective. Enter The Onion Router—commonly known as TOR—a free web browser that complicates the ability of snoopers to track you across the internet. This free software encrypts and relays your web visits, keeping each site distinct so that third-party trackers and advertisements cannot trail you. Additionally, any cookies created in your browser are automatically deleted upon closing it, along with your browsing history.
