Hacker Reveals How To Stay Off The Grid

1. What's A 'Digital Footprint' All About?

Image Source / RedditBefore we get into the nitty gritty of how to stay off the grid, you might not be fully clued up about how much of a digital footprint you can actually leave and what it's all about, when you're just trying to browse social media and mind your own business. But everything you do online has a footprint, and it's not just about feeling paranoid about looking at NSFW stuff - it's also about protecting your info and identity!

2. There Are 2 Types: Active Footprint & Passive Footprint

Image Source / RedditYour active footprint is the info you choose to share, like when you upload that cheeky selfie or when you update your Facebook relationship status. Your passive footprints is what's working in the background, e.g. your IP address and any cookie trails you're leaving behind. What you choose to share can actually be more of a risk for cyber attacks. So how can you best stay off the grid?

3. Delete All Those Accounts You Randomly Made And Forgot About

Image Source / RedditThink about how many times you've created random accounts for websites because you needed to log in, but then you haven't used them since. There might be a ton that have your personal information and log in details, that are still active even though you haven't used them in a decade. Did you know that deleting all these unnecessary accounts can actually take not even an hour to reduce your online footprint?

4. Get A Backup Email Address That's Not Your Primary One

Image Source / RedditA lot of people have only one email address, which means this is the one they're going to use for everything online. A good hack is to create a secondary email that you're not really going to use for any other purpose than handing this out online instead of your main personal one. This means you can use this email address for quick things online so that you don't have to give out your personal information.

5. Better Yet: Make A Disposable Email

Image Source / Know Your MemeIf you need an email address for something temporary or something you're just trying to do quickly online, you can actually get a disposable email address from signing up with providers, which is ideal if you're not planning on using that service ever again. It's a great one time deal to get an email address and then have no trace of personal info afterwards.

6. Use Fake Details If Not Making A Payment

Image Source / RedditIf you're trying to buy something online and they need to know your name and address, obviously you need to fill in the correct information. For anything else, like random popups asking for some quick contact info, just use fake info so your real stuff can't be traced. A lot of these services that aren't legal requirements won't have any way of verifying your information anyway.

7. Check Those Pesky Privacy Settings

Image Source / RedditMost people will admit that social media feels more fun for them when they have a ton of followers, posts being shared and a million likes. This can lead many people to be as public as possible with what they share and not even bother to check their privacy settings. You might want to, though. Go through your social media accounts and sort the settings to share only what you want it to share!We all know how easy it is to log in with Facebook when a website prompts us to, so we don't need to go through the long and boring process of creating an account or pretending we remember our password. But when you log in with Facebook, the website you're using then gets nice and easy access to all that personal information you choose to share through your Facebook profile.

9. Don't Overshare On Social Media

Image Source / RedditMany people use social media like they're own personal journal - letting the world know about the highs and lows of their day, what's going on in their personal life and the names of their partners and pets. Everything you share on social media is going to give hackers and scammers fuel to scam you. You may have just told them your pet's name, which is also your password for everything you use (and while we're at it, DON'T use a pet's name as a password!).

10. Use A Different Password For Every Account You Have

Image Source / Reddit HelpWhich brings us to this particular tip. If a website is hacked and your account password is not only revealed, but able to be published online, it's going to be a problem if that is your password for every single thing you log in to, ever. To protect yourself, try to change your password from account to account.

11. Only Give Payment Information If You Absolutely Have To

Image Source / RedditIf you're buying something and you have to put your credit card details in, that's fair - but if you don't have to put in your payment details in a website, don't! Some might ask you to fill in payment details when creating am account just so they 'have them', but if you don't need to, don't give it to them!

12. Go Incognito!

Image Source / ZDNETIf you can go incognito and switch your browser to private for a website, why wouldn't you? Most people do this just so their boss can't see their bored-browsing history, but it's about more than that. When you go incognito, it means that cookies aren't stored from what you're doing, and your existing ones won't be shown.

13. Or Get A Privacy Extension

Image Source / Google DesignThese are great alternatives if you don't want to use incognito mode - or if you can't use it. Privacy extensions are there to prevent tracking on your browser activity. They can be sorted for existing browsers like Google, and then offer a few different options for staying off the grid, like blocking certain websites that are trying to get a little too cozy with your personal info. Your IP address is always recorded when you visit a website, and your IP address is something that reveals your location. This is how websites recognize you when you go back to look at that sale item you know you can't afford but keep going back to look, for example. A VPN is your best friend when it comes to not only hiding your IP address, but protecting you against threats.

15. Delete Old Email Addresses

Image Source / Wikipedia Do you still have [email protected] from your college days and left it active but unused when you had to put a more professional one on your resume? Well it's time to declutter your old email addresses, because deleting them will make sure there's no personal info footprint left behind from having loads of unused email addresses!

16. Don't Ignore The Pop-Ups When You Go To A New Website

Image Source / Reddit Most people will admit that they just automatically click 'yes' to most pop-ups, and especially when it's all about terms and conditions or data collection. But it's worth having a proper look over when you visit a website you've never visited before, because the pop-ups will likely be asking if they're okay to collect your data - and if it's a new, risky site, it's best to think about it before clicking yes!

17. Avoid Having Multiple Social Media Accounts

 Image Source / Reddit Do you have an Instagram account for each hobby you have? A travel account, a personal hobby account, a professional account... It makes sense why more than one account would be needed if you have a personal one versus a business one, for example, but if you've loads for no good reason, then delete the rest of them and stick with one main one you can better control!

18. Avoid Doing Too Many Online Quizzes Or Surveys

 Image Source / Reddit If you're constantly up against 'GIVE US YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND PERSONAL INFORMATION TO SEE THE RESULTS OF THIS QUIZ', then think about how many of them you're actually doing a day and which ones can be avoided. Every time you do one you're only going to be surrendering personal info about yourself!

19. Ask Companies Directly To Remove You From A Database

Image Source / Reddit If you're subscribed to a million different things, or have a lot of registered accounts with companies, then one of the best way to shed the information they hold on you is to directly contact them and tell them to completely take you off the database. This is because a lot of the time when you unsubscribe, they'll still have your details on their database (which is why they say 'You can resubscribe at any time!').

20. Stop Staying Logged In To Everything

Image Source / Reddit We get it - it's much easier to stay logged in to everything, with your browser always remembering your password, so you can just click and go. But think what this means for the security of your information. You might want to get into the habit of logging out of everything when you're finished for the day.

21. Clear Your Browser And Cookie History On The Daily

 Image Source / Reddit If you're opting not to use incognito mode, then your browser history and tracking cookies will always be stored after every online sesh. This isn't the best when you've been surfing a ton of random websites and logging into accounts left right and center. So if you do a browser clear when you're shutting down for the day, it will clear your history as well as any tracking cookies.

22. Change Your Passwords Regularly

Image Source / wikiHow As well as our earlier advice about making sure you're not using the exact same password for absolutely everything, you also want to make sure you're changing and updating passwords regularly. This might seem like a pain when you've only just starting remembering your original password in the first place, but it'll help keep your personal info safe.

23. Don't Forget All Your Devices!

 Image Source / Reddit Some people might go through a huge effort to secure their laptop: using incognito mode on it or clearing browser history, setting up a VPN, changing their passwords or setting up firewall protection. They may then go and use their tablets and phones without making any of the same efforts. But it's important!

24. Disconnect Connected Apps

 Image Source / Reddit Speaking of tablets and phones - if you're using a boat load of apps on them, you're likely logged in or connected through Facebook or social media. This means your personal info from your profiles is connected to these apps, and whatever else you're doing in them, like making purchases. So make sure to disconnect apps from Facebook or Google, and log in a different way!

25. Clean Up Your Email Inbox

Image Source / Reddit If you've still got emails in your account from your boyfriend in the sixth grade from the email address you've had your entire life, it might be time for a clean up. If someone did get access to your personal info and emails, a clear out means they won't have years and years' worth of personal information to see.

26. Stop Downloading Pointless Apps

Image Source / Reddit Do you even know what apps you have downloaded on your phone? Have you some installed that you haven't even looked at in months? Every time you download an app, you're agreeing to give your personal information and activity to that provider. So don't install apps unless they're mainstream, safe ones you're definitely going to use.

27. Stop Letting Apps Have Access To Location And Contacts

Image Source / Reddit You know the drill - you want to use a new app, and it'll politely pop up and say it needs permission to access your location and/or phone contacts. Make sure not to let every single app access your settings and contacts if it really doesn't need to - otherwise it's easily tracking you.

28. Don't Subscribe To Every Single Newsletter

Image Source / Reddit If you REALLY want to subscribe to something you know, and a service you use regularly, that's fine, but if you're subscribing to every single website and newsletter you come across without even knowing what half the stuff is, you're only giving out more personal information that you need to. Choose carefully!

29. Get Your Firewall In Order

 Image Source / Pinata Farms Internet security programs are key if you're browsing all the time, so make sure to not only have firewall and anti-virus software installed, but run scans regularly - and especially after visiting suspicious sites, or if you feel you've given your information to the wrong services. It'll help keep you protected.

30. Google Your Name

 Image Source / Reddit If you really want to know where your name has been registered or where this accessible information about you, Google your own name. You can then contact websites or databases to delete your information or request it be taken down. We've all Googled our own name for fun, but this is more about online footprint!