How To Erase Yourself From The Internet

How To Erase Yourself From The Internet

Who knew a page full of links could be so useful?

JustDelete.me is a page full of links -- not ugly blue hyperlinks but links disguised as buttons. Each button represents an online service; anything from LinkedIn to Skype to Wikipedia.

Click a button and JustDelete.me will take you to the page on that online service that allows you to delete your account. If you click the "show info" link under each button, meanwhile, JustDelete.me will tell you, in plain English, how to delete your account from that site.

Buttons are color-coded: a green button means deleting your account is easy, a yellow button means it's moderately difficult, red means it's hard and black (uh-oh) means "it's impossible to delete your account on this site."

Turns out some sites love your data so much they won't remove it. Ever.

In addition to its primary purpose of teaching people how to delete their accounts -- and serving as a one-stop shop for people who want to pare down their online presence -- JustDelete.me publicly shames services that don't let users remove their data. And for those who haven't yet created eternal accounts on these types of sites, including Netflix, Pinterest or Pastebin, JustDelete.me serves as a warning that some sites will never let you go.

JustDelete.me was created by Robb Lewis, a UK-based developer frustrated by the lack of transparency offered in online service deletions. "After seeing a few tweets about how difficult it can be to delete your Skype account and then hearing that Netflix flat-out won’t delete your details I decided to build JustDelete.me," Lewis writes on his blog. Lewis is currently taking suggestions for sites to add to JustDelete.me; he can be emailed or contacted on Twitter here.

Before You Go

Fingerprint Gel

9 Gadgets To Help You Avoid Surveillance

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot