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Internet privacy: Account killer

By J. Carlton Collins, CPA

Please note: This item is from our archives and was published in 2016. It is provided for historical reference. The content may be out of date and links may no longer function.

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Q. Is it possible for me to delete all of my personal profile information on the internet? If so, how?

A. The website accountkiller.com contains instructions for removing your personal profile information from many popular websites, including Facebook, Google, Skype, Twitter, Windows Live, Yahoo!, and numerous others. To access these instructions, visit accountkiller.com and use the alphanumeric menu to locate the websites you want. (As pictured in the example screenshot below, the accountkiller.com website lists several thousand websites and uses color-coding to indicate whether your profile can be fully removed, partially removed, or not removed at all.)

According to accountkiller.com, websites displayed on their website in blue do allow removal, those shown in gray allow partial removal, and those highlighted in black do not allow removal. I counted more than 500 websites (as of July 2016) that, according to accountkiller.com, do not allow you to remove your personal profile data. For example, once you create a Tinder account (a dating app), all of your personal data remain even if you delete the account. Later, if you create a new account using the same email address, your old Tinder profile data and pictures reappear automatically.

To begin the process of removing personal profile information from the internet, you might start by following the instructions provided by accountkiller.com. In the future, you might also make a note to avoid those websites that do not allow your profile information to be removed.

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About the author

J. Carlton Collins (carlton@asaresearch.com) is a technology consultant, a CPE instructor, and a JofA contributing editor.

Note: Instructions for Microsoft Office in “Technology Q&A” refer to the 2007 through 2016 versions, unless otherwise specified.

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