These tools will help you if you want to “hide from the Internet”

MEXICO CITY. – Currently, almost all of us have more than two accounts on social networks, some for business issues are forced to get an account in every social network out there so far but not only that, now you have to create accounts if you want to buy or subscribe to video game service.

Then, many users wonder where the accounts were created during that time so that they can delete them. The reasons are varied, and could include wanting to leave content they created at a young age, to control their digital footprint or to stop receiving emails from pages they no longer use.

For this reason, there are a series of methods and tools to find, access and delete these accounts and never have to worry about them again depending on whether or not the user knows where the account was created or uses a password manager.

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I remember my account

In the first place, if the user knows and remembers the service or web in which he created an account that he would like to delete, there are several tools that locate them without any complicated process: Account Killer and Just Delete Me includes a search engine. and delete it.

Upon finding the page on which the user created the account, Account Killer will provide step-by-step information on how to delete it and, in some cases, links to get to the method of deletion as soon as possible. Just Delete Me works in the same way, but adds an assessment about how difficult this process is to do.

If it seems impossible to finish the process, despite everything, Data Requests has a data requests generator that generates a script to make a request to delete the account, among other services.

Otherwise, you can contact the company hosting the account yourself and request its deletion, referring to the right of deletion in Article 17 of the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (RGPD).

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I don’t know where I have my account

If, unlike when using Account Killer and Delete Me, what is remembered is an email and not the websites where the accounts were created, there are a series of ways to find it and then use said resources.

First, while it’s not a resource it was built for, searching for phrases and keywords in the inbox and spam for “emails” can be more efficient than it sounds.

When you create an account, you multiple times access the original websites to send you business communications, information about updates, events, issues, new products, clarifications about the account itself…or, simply, find the first account creation email.

Thanks to this, you can find accounts that you did not suspect by searching for emails that indicate phrases and keywords in Spanish, English and other languages ​​such as “registration”, “new account” and “confirmation”E-mail“” or “email”, “verify email”, “registration”, “account activation”, “password”, “welcome”, “free trial” …

Likewise, you can search for the special person’s name and patiently scroll through old emails. If usernames are remembered, they can also be included to improve search or find them on websites like Namechk and Knowem? It indicates the social platforms where an account with that name already exists and then check if that account is you.

To continue finding account information, the original intent to filter websites can be changed. Sites like Have I Been Pwned or Avast Hack Check have the function of informing if certain account data associated with an email address has been leaked or if it is at risk, which could give clues about their location.

If you are looking for a more complete search or if no more information is found by these methods, a variety of different search engines and search algorithms can be used to find the accounts.

The trick is to search for the same information on Google, Bing, Ecosia, Yandex, Duckduckgo, Gibiru … or any other search engine, because different results provide the possibility to find the information you are looking for. A good trick is also to search for the user in double quotes (“user”) so that the search engine will return results that exactly match them.

I used a password manager

Many users have the habit of using a password manager (in English “password manager”). These systems allow user names with associated websites and their respective passwords to be saved in a list.

The browsers themselves save passwords for many accounts, which helps you find them. Google Chrome has a key icon when you click on the profile in the top right where it’s saved, Firefox places it in the list in the top right in Logins & Passwords, and Safari keeps it in Passwords, from within the Preferences menu.

In Chromium-based Edge, you have to click on “Advanced Settings”, go to “Privacy and Services” and go to “Manage Passwords” to view the accounts and their passwords. In all these cases, it is not enough to delete the browser account, but you need to go to the service itself and perform its removal procedure.

Taking care of your accounts for the future

Any internet hindsight that has been used to find the missing information should lead users to think about how to avoid the same thing happening again in the future.

Despite the right to be forgotten on the Internet and the possibilities of erasure, the network has shown that the ramifications of information and the practice of search engines to index information without taking responsibility for the origin of the content sometimes make this option almost impossible.

Therefore, it is positive for people to closely monitor the accounts they create on various websites to avoid unnecessary problems in the future or to erase information that they may regret in a few years.

The above password managers can be a good way to keep track of what’s being done, but lists can also be created for keeping in the cloud, in the mail itself, and even on paper.

Any method is valid as long as the accounts are known to exist and the methods are known to be able to delete them in the future.