How to Disappear Completely from the Internet?

[elsus]

Hello

since I'm getting fed up with the big brother "FAANG" I decided to leave the internet. Well not literally but you get the point. I gave loads of data to the big guys and now it's the right time to get them deleted (or at least try to get them deleted).

I know It's close to impossible even tho I live in the EU but nevertheless at least I'd like to try.

Is there a website with a complete guide to leaving your own internet "persona" and start again with more privacy?

Thanks for any advice guys.

[cpach]

Stop using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Use Signal, try to avoid email. Use Duckduckgo instead of Google Search. Use a good adblocker. Pay everything you can in cash. Something like that?

[suvo]

Ads are not the only way FAANG tracks you. You need to get rid of everything owned by them like your Android phone (yes, the hardware, apart from the brick, is only licensed to you, so still owned by them), Google maps etc. And find alternatives like S60 phones, Openstreetmaps etc.

[elsus]

Yes, that's what I'm talking about. Even tho you delete everything (accounts, data etc.) you are still left with several insidious ways any company can track you. Eg. you can delete anything from your phone and even reinstall the system from groundup but you will still be tracked based on the hardware configuration...

[cpach]

Sure.

Consider buying a cheap feature phone. Keep it turned off as much as possible. Avoid SMS as much as possible. Use other methods for calling. (Perhaps Wire…?)

Aso, consider if all this trouble is really worth it. IMHO, it’s not. YMMV.

[selfhoster11]

I'm curious, why should one avoid SMS? It's the ultimate tech that's not owned by any single entity.

[Trias11]

Enjoy internet but do not allow any service or platform to connect your activity to your persona.

There are methods to do that and it's much easier and more fun that cut off yourself internet.

(Google it ... Oops! DuckDuckGo it! :) )

[elsus]

I really hope the term "DuckDuckGo it" or simply just "Duck-it!" catches on!

[Trias11]

I'd rather have them register ddg.* or some other short TLD and be done with this ducking. I can never type it correctly from the second try.

[mehak402]

I think it is practically impossible to go off the radar nowadays, there is too much information about you already out there, especially with the big guys.

I think the next best thing to do would be secure whatever you can and not give away anymore. Don't download unnecessary apps, give out information that is not required, and use your 2FA wisely. We end up giving out details these big guys never asked for without realising. Be aware of what you share.

[giantg2]

https://anonymousplanet.org/guide.html#picking-your-route

[100011_100001]

This is the way.

The other way is literary go off the grid and use no electronics.

[markus_zhang]

I think if you have a cabin and own a generator with enough fuel around you should be able to vanish from a lot of eyes. Not the government eyes but most of the private companies won't know where you are if you can get a foreign bank account to receive payment and you only use cash (converted offshore).

But still, I don't know how I can live without Internet. Is there any affordable satelliete Internet service? How about Starlink?

[elnatro]

I’m not sure you can disappear completely, but you could obfuscate your “persona” by faking likes, stories, and all type of content.

[jjgreen]

I you want privacy you'll need to give up your phone and paying with cards; even if you could remove the existing data on you (hint, you can't) your phone and cards would repopulate that data in days. If you need your phone and paying with cards then anything else you do towards privacy is just pointless, don't waste your time.

[dyingkneepad]

Well, can't you at least proxy phones and cards?

Like pre-paid cards. Or those banks that generate new card numbers for every transaction. Or having the cards be owned by some sort of company instead of an individual person?

Phones would be the same thing: you get temporary numbers that redirect you do the real one. I have no idea how feasible this would be, but I bet some similar service exists for businesses.

[jjgreen]

> Well, can't you at least proxy phones and cards?

Why yes you can, and you get proxy privacy as a result.

The problem is that this information is valuable to the bank and the state, and the only way to keep their nasty little noses out of that trough is not to generate that information, and that means no phone, cash payments. The various technical solutions mentioned in this thread miss the point that the problem itself is not technical, it is sociological and political.

Almost everyone will eventually decide that their privacy is not worth the cost of the loss of their phone. That's their choice, but one should at least recognise that that choice has been made.

[elsus]

Well the transition to a dumb phone or a phoneless future (internet phone) is a one I expect, not now necessarily.

I don't agree that it's all just about "using phone and credit card". You can always just use dumb phone (or no phone) and fiat money.

My question is more about removing what's already there (Google, Facebook and other services).

[elsus]

Maybe I suggest a different question.

Let's say the data you already generated stays there.

What can I do from now on to not generate more?

[bellyfullofbac]

Probably install all the ad and cookie-blocking software, and probably VPN, I think my ISP gives me a static IP that I'm being tracked through it.

AFAIK many online shops also upload their customer information to Facebook, I use the same email for FB and online shops, so there's Zuck making money off that data of mine. But even without using the same email, if many shops have your name/shipping address and they all upload it to FB, FB has a profile of your real name and address [do the shops upload these?] and your online shopping preferences.

In my mind, if I worked for FB, it would be easy to build a shadow profile. Your friends use WhatsApp/FB Messenger on their phones? And they uploaded their address books? Well, Zuck can see there's a friend network with FB/WA accounts who have each others' numbers, and Zuck can see they all have this same phone number for their "not-in-Zuck's-network" friend Eslus (again, if your friends stored your real name in their address book, Zuck also has this information). If there are 4 people known to Zuck, and one of them uploads pics where there's 5 of you, through deduction Zuck's algorithms can see "Ah, the 5th person must be Elsus, according to this time and geo-tag, all 5 were at a Lady Gaga (or whoever) concert, so that means Elsus must also like Lady Gaga's music.".

[elsus]

Holy cow, this opens up so many more questions.

I knew the way things are interconnected nowadays is unprecedented in history. This insight brings me back to one of my ideas I had few weeks ago. Hold on with me since my technological background is certainly lower in several magnitudes than yours.

Given that Facebook just won't delete anything it has stored about you I tried to think about other ways to decieve it. It might be impossible but what about generating alternative accounts with slightly different information. Eg. creating several (hundred?) profiles that are basically decoys, pumping "input noise" to the system eventually confusing the algorithms.

[kleer001]

Can you be more specific? What kinda of data? Financial? Shopping info? Personal history? Relationship with others? Online comments? What are your limits and what would you be happy with? What are you willing to give up and what do you need to keep hold of?

Then, what have you found so far and how is it not working for you? Are you familiar with EFF.org ?

[elsus]

Well, my primary goal is to get rid off my personal information. It could/should conatin things like comments i made or shopping accounts I created but it's not the primary goal (for this moment).

I followed the logic that if I delete my personal data (google records, facebook records, ad records) other data would be affected too since the reference data is lost but I might be wrong with that conclusion. I'm just trying to: 1. Get rid off my personal data (Anything that represents myself on the internet)

2. Delte anything that might be associated with me (accounts created with gmail, facebook linked accounts reddit account) (Basically deleting anything I posted with pseudonyms but is linked to my person)

3. Start a private life on internet (join privacy oriented social networks, services etc.)

I hope this make at least some sense.

Anyhow, thanks for the eff.org mention, that's the privacy juice I'm craving.

[kleer001]

From what I recall of my trip down the deep paranoia rabbit hole your best bet is to:

A) Only use temporary virtual machines to access the internet.

B) Use Tor the right way, which is very difficult.

C) Use VPNs liberally

D) Pay for everything from one-off accounts like visa gift cards

But that's exhausting and full of friction at every step. Basically pretending that a State interest is after you, like you're a criminal. Best of luck!

IMHO whatever is out there is out there, you have no control of it anymore. And, the internet is forever.

IMHO I'd rather poison my information that delete it. Fill it full of useless cruft and things that aren't actually you. That's easier.

[Wonnk13]

Lot's of comments on how to act going forward, what I'm curious about is how to retroactively remove previous artifacts? How can you guarantee that all of your online banking, shopping, social media accounts are actually deleted?

[pknerd]

Use TOR browser

[aminozuur]

Why?

[elsus]

Why not?

[ketan0]

stop doinf everything and start doing hydroponics https://howhydroponics.com