The web that allows you to erase all your traces on the Internet
One of the most criticized aspects of the Internet is the lack of anonymity and the ease with which the most insignificant data about what we do in the network can be stored, processed or even sold.
The so-called fingerprint has become an extension of ourselves. For example, a computer program can be able to know our personality as much or more than our family and friends just by analyzing the "likes" that we put on Facebook, as we saw in this article.
That is why the option of being able to erase our trail on the Internet has become a necessity of which we should be able to dispose. Fortunately, ways are already being developed to make this possible.
The fingerprint
If you are a person who has been using the Internet for more than 5 or 6 years, you will have noticed the ease with which you get to points where you have no choice but to register on web pages to access the service you need to use. In fact, many of them even ask for a mobile number.
But nevertheless, most of the personal information that we are leaving online is not the data that we introduce voluntarily in data collection forms; It is our own navigation on the Internet what is most interesting to know.
So, our searches on Google, what pages we visit, the way we click on links going from one website to another ... all these data, combined, serve to create a profile of our personality as Internet users. Not even antivirus or incognito navigation modes that incorporate some browsers mean that this information is not spread over the network of networks.
This set of data about oneself that remains in the network because of our actions on the Internet is called "fingerprint", and is what many people are interested in deleting.
Deleting the trail on the web
It is clear that the more time spent using the Internet through computers, tablets or smarthones, the more complicated it is to make the network clean of these traces. However, there are ways to eliminate a good part of the fingerprint , including the deletion of photographs or texts.
One of the most interesting projects in this regard is that of the Swedes Wille Dahlbo and Linus Unnebäck, who have developed a web page called Deseat.me. From this online platform it is possible to eliminate a large number of open user accounts in Internet pages, social networks, forums, etc.
To use it, you only need to log in from a Google account and choose which profiles you want to delete permanently.
A project in expansion
At the moment, Deseat.me does not allow to erase any trace on the Internet, but those that start from open profiles on certain websites. However, there is no doubt that with the passage of time the increase in the population of digital natives and the need to preserve anonymity They will make this same option and many others grow and become increasingly powerful tools.
Otherwise, the privacy of many people would be very compromised. Not only would you live with a feeling of helplessness in the face of possible attacks in which personal information is used, but you could use this data to further influence policy and processes related to the internal functioning of companies ... all this, with obvious psychological impact : the appearance of situations that produce a lot of stress when using the Internet.
In fact, in recent years we have seen how the search for old information on Facebook and Twitter is used to try to harm public figures. With the passage of time, this same could be extended to anyone who has spent decades using the Internet.
