I have attempted to purge my online persona several times, but I can’t because I have been using the internet daily for years.
If you are like me, don’t worry! It has taken some time, but I have gradually removed myself from the internet through obscurity, distortion, and masquerade with my public profiles.
Stay Anonymous by Learning OSINT and Practicing OPSEC
They are acts and foundations on which you cannot achieve ‘gray man’ status without a primary acumen with OSINT and OPSEC. OSINT can be defined as the processes and methods associated with the collection of open-source data. Using the footprints, you should learn how people, agencies, and algorithms collect your Information.
You don’t have to learn how to do OSINT on a person (although it’s helpful); understanding the methods in which people collect social information helps raise OPSEC online. Here are typical OSINT techniques you need to be aware of:
- Web Scraping and Search Engine Research
- Social Media Profiling
- GEO, for short, is intelligence collected from imaging satellites and aerial reconnaissance platforms, along with associated geographic information.
- Public Records and Databases
- Image and Video Analysis
- Data mining as a discovery process of users’ Email Addresses and Usernames
Once you become acquainted with OSINT, you’ll recognize ways of performing your own OPSEC when using the internet. For OPSEC, the issue revolves around using techniques and methodologies that make us invisible on the internet. Therefore, I would consider any measure you put in place while using the internet as personal OPSEC.
Here are a few of my favorite OPSEC habits I use and would highly recommend to anyone serious about their online security:
- Use Encrypted Communication: Signal and WhatsApp are some apps that use end-to-end encryption.
- Mask Metadata: Remove metadata that contains information on the location or the particular device before sharing images or documents. Tools like ExifTool can help.
- Anonymized Browsing: Browsers and services such as Tor and VPN will ensure the highest levels of privacy.
- Virtual Sandboxing presents higher privacy risks on virtual machines, bootable media, and devices connected to a USB or dedicated hardware.
- Selective Engagements: Do not engage in any social media activities online. However, please do not argue or comment on posts online; you do not have to. I had to include this. It may seem obvious, but it must be on the list for emphasis.
These are the best places to start, although there are many other ways to improve your online OPSE.
Scrub Your Data Off the Internet
The first move anyone can make when attempting to go anonymous on the web is to forget whatever data they have on the internet. Some of the measures that will be applied here will include closing idle social media accounts, disabling tags, having personal data brokers erase your details, having the contact info and addresses deleted from your personal website, etc.
The aim is to remove, conceal, or restrictively password any data you can discover online. You can go through different search engines and type your name and username to see what information can be found about you. Just browse on Google, Firefox, Bing, and any search engine with the social media search options provided, such as Facebook Search, Instagram, Twitter (X), and any other social you have connected to your profile. Before doing anything, attempt a search on the website for the resource you want as a guest with an account and browse in private on your browser of choice.
After extensively researching your online presence, list all the info that may be connected to you: these are your targets. Search for how to erase them from the earth or at least blur or password-protect them from any nasty probe further. To make the process faster and much more convenient, here are a few features, tools, and services I recommend:
- Data Privacy and Security Settings: Social media sites generally offer solutions or options for data protection and privacy concerns. I use these settings to hide and lock my data so that I do not have to go through the process of untagging, as well as the unlike/like button for any post related to me.
- Data Removal Services: If the process of individually opting out of data brokers is intimidating, applications such as Incogni can do it for you.
- justdelete.me: When trying to delete old and unused accounts, you can try the website that shows all the accounts connected to the given e-mail delete me.
This stage will be very time-consuming. Depending on how much data has been released in the past, it may take days, weeks, or months.
Create New and Secure Anonymous Accounts
Since you have taken the step to remove/ hide/ lock your identity information from the internet, you can decide to stay off the internet or do what I do: create fake accounts and avatar accounts that cannot in any way be linked to me.
When employing the OPSEC concept, first develop an email. In place of using Gmail or Yahoo Mail, create an email from other providers who respect privacy. Proton Mail: I like that they don’t take a phone number for a user to sign up and use the service. However, you can also give it a shot and sign up for an anonymous Gmail. You know how to sign up for a burner Gmail by using a burner phone number from apps that offer this service.
I can create anonymous social media accounts with the latest email when I obtain the new anonymous email. For instance, during registration into the site, one should ensure that no information will relate to any of the accounts I already operate online. I use another name/other ID that is different from the one I have used before and do not provide any other information that is not necessary.
If you also wish to make anonymous accounts, kindly try using a VPN and sandbox the activity in a virtual machine. I prefer going to a coffee shop and creating these accounts through a specific machine.
Scramble Data and Mislead the Algorithm
Do you ever try to search for something online and get disappointed that you can’t find useful information because there is too much fake information out there? Why not the same with your data?
Maintain your primary Internet profiles and regularly update them with other fake and meaningless information about you. If you feel that your old posts do not make sense anymore and might not be sensitive to your privacy, they remain public. Afterward, you insert various pieces of information that tend to be fake just in case anyone searches for the information mentioned.
Also, arranging or disarranging your search entries can add to the nonlinearity of the algorithm. I developed a Python script on my devices that runs the search at random intervals to perform routine random searches. You can achieve the same effect by using search engines to look for things that do not have anything to do with you or do not interest you. You know it’s working when ads and recommendations pop randomly.
As observed, deception and data scrambling is not a one-time shot but a continuous process that must be implemented with a high degree of perseverance. Do not search out of the blue for random items way out of the interest level of the present time. You also don’t want to put up messages that people know are lies about you or things that aren’t true in your life. To have your data rise or increase, you’ll want it to rise or increase while moving from personally identifiable facts about an individual to utterly unbelievable fiction.
Perhaps the toughest problem you can have today is wiping out your footprint from the Internet. This way, you can achieve the same level of privacy as if you had never used the Internet at all, just learning such techniques as OSINT, practicing OPSEC, and, of course, scrambling data.
