Reducing your Online Footprint in 2023

Introduction

Your online footprint is becoming increasingly important as more people move their lives online in the wake of Covid-19. Your online footprint is composed of many different things: your social media profiles, search engine results, public records, and more. While some of these things are available publicly, others are not - but they can still be used by advertisers to track your movements around the web. The solution is to have a different name for each account, and not using one that ties directly to your real

identity."

Online footprints are becoming increasingly important as more people move their lives online in the wake of Covid-19

In the wake of COVID-19, it is becoming increasingly important to take steps to minimize your digital footprint. With more and more people moving their lives online, they are making themselves vulnerable to hackers and cyber criminals who can steal information from them using this information for identity theft.

It’s also important because people are now using their real names on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter instead of just using a fake name like “Bob” or “Jane Smith” when signing up for these sites. This makes it easy for hackers to find out where you live, where you work and anything else they want if they hacked into your account.

Millions of people lost their lives around the word due to COVID-19, meaning scams are on the rise, honest people seem to be on the decline and due to the fact people believe they are "hidden" on the Internet many are willing to say anything, the execution portion is a different story. As the quote goes, "everyone wants to be a gangster, but not everyone wants to gangster S%$#."

Careful using geotagging or location sharing on social media

If you're not already familiar with it, geotagging is a feature that allows you to share your location on social media. You will often see this in use when someone takes a photo or video of their surroundings and adds the name of their city or country to the post. For example, if I were taking photos while traveling through New York City and posted them on Instagram, they would automatically be tagged as being from New York City because that's where I live.

If you want to keep your location private while still using geotagging features like these, there are two things that can help: changing how much information you share about yourself online (which we'll discuss in more detail later), and using software that anonymizes your IP address so others can't track where exactly it's coming from. If neither of those options work for you or if there are other ways for people to figure out what city/state/country etc... based solely on publicly available information about yourself then consider turning off all location services completely – which means no tagging anything at all unless absolutely necessary (or just not posting at all).

Tying your social media accounts to your True Name.

You’ve probably heard the term “True Name” thrown around by your friends and family. But what does it mean? And why should you protect yours?

A True Name is a unique identifier that can be used to identify you online. While many people use their first name and last initial to sign up for social media platforms, this makes them vulnerable to hackers and identity thieves who are trying to steal your online accounts. By allowing someone else access to your True Name, they can impersonate you on websites like Facebook or Twitter — meaning they could post something damaging or embarrassing without you knowing about it!

Fortunately, there are several ways you can protect your True Name so that no one else has access:

Not checking privacy settings often enough.

You might be surprised to find out that privacy settings can change quickly and often, especially if you use your phone or computer a lot. If you’re not checking your privacy settings often enough, it’s possible that someone could access information about you without your knowledge. This could include your location, contacts and even photos.

To check the privacy settings on each of your devices:

• On your smartphone: Check in Settings > Privacy > Location Services (or Security & Location) to see what apps are accessing this information. You can also go into each app's settings individually to see which ones have access to this feature—and turn off any apps that don't need it by disabling location services for an individual app or altogether in general.

• On computers running Windows 10: Click on Start > Settings > Privacy > Location for details about how Windows 10 uses location data from devices such as laptops and tablets; then follow similar steps above for turning off unnecessary features on different devices like smart TVs or home security systems (if applicable).

Having an easily identifiable "handle" - makes it simple to track you

Being identifiable online is a necessary evil. Your social media accounts, email addresses and other online properties can be tied to a real person through your IP address or other identifiers. In our world of instant communication, many people are reluctant to use pseudonyms or nicknames when communicating with others on the internet.

If you're concerned about having your identity tracked by potential employers, it's worth considering how much information you want to share with the world before creating an account for an app or service that requires some form of registration. When thinking about whether or not you should use a handle (or pseudonym) while interacting with others on the internet: if it has any personal identifying information in its title then probably not!

For example - don't use anything like "JohnDoe1" or "johndoe1234" - these are too easily linked back to you by an investigator looking for clues about who owns that handle and what kinds of activities they've engaged in using it over time (you may have even forgotten yourself).

So what can you do to maintain your online privacy?

• Use a VPN. Using a virtual private network (VPN) is the best way to maintain your online privacy. A VPN encrypts all of your internet traffic and routes it through an intermediary server, which can be located in any country. This makes it impossible for anyone to intercept your data or identify you based on where the server is located, as they won't know who's using it or where it's located.

• Use a burner phone and change your IP address frequently. If you don't want to use a VPN but still want some protection against surveillance and tracking, consider getting what I call "burner phone" service—that is, get prepaid cell service with a new number every couple months so that no one can track you down through your phone number or data usage patterns over time. When choosing this option keep in mind that if someone has access to one of those old phones they'll have access to all of their previous conversations too!

The solution is to have a different name for each account, and not using one that ties directly to your real identity.

The solution is to have a different name for each account, and not using one that ties directly to your real identity. For example, if you're an avid gamer and have multiple gaming accounts, pick an alias that isn't tied to your name or any other identifying information. If you're worried about being found out somehow by the people in your life who might recognize the name of that account as yours—don't worry! You can still choose something memorable but relatively generic: "JohnDoe" or "Jackson."

When choosing a username for social media accounts (like Facebook or Twitter), try to avoid anything too obvious—this means no using your full legal name or anything else obvious like @johndoe4realz. The same goes for online shopping sites: if possible, don't use any names that could potentially link back to you personally (for example, don't use "John Smith" as your username on Amazon).

The best solution is to use programs that allow users to change their IP addresses frequently, making it more difficult for advertisers to track them.

The best solution is to use programs that allow users to change their IP addresses frequently, making it more difficult for advertisers to track them. For example:

• VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) allow you to create an anonymous connection and change your location. If a VPN has servers in multiple cities, then you can switch from one server to another once or twice every day. This ensures that advertisers will have difficulty tracking you because they will only be able to see a small portion of the total number of locations where your IP address may have been located during the course of a day.

• Proxies let users choose which country their IP address will appear as being from when they access websites online. Most proxies also allow users the option of selecting different IP addresses within each country they connect their devices with so it’s harder for advertisers or hackers trying track or spy on their activity online. Some services even offer advanced features like ad blocking and malware protection while using them too!

• Tor is software designed specifically by The Tor Project Inc., which allows people anywhere around world create virtual tunnels over which information travels between two points without being intercepted by anyone else along its path before reaching its destination."

This kind of software will help protect your privacy in the digital world.

As technology continues to evolve, it is important to stay up-to-date on the latest software to maintain your online privacy. In 2023, there will be a variety of software available to help you protect your identity and reduce your online footprint. Some of these solutions may include VPNs, anti-malware suites, and password managers. VPNs help to encrypt your data and provide a layer of anonymity when browsing the web. Anti-malware suites protect your device from malicious software and can scan for potential security threats. Password managers help to store your passwords securely and generate complex passwords for different accounts. By using these solutions, you can be sure that your online data and identity remain private in 2023.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that reducing your online footprint in 2023 is a wise decision. Taking the time to review your online accounts, delete unnecessary data, and secure your accounts with strong passwords are all steps that can help you protect your privacy. Ultimately, the goal is to be aware of your online presence and take the necessary steps to protect yourself from potential privacy violations. How much effort are you willing to put into reducing your online footprint? Because, should the answer be not much - but I need it done, then get in touch with us today!