How to Audit Your Digital Footprint

Intermediate Time: 2-3 hours Category: Data Privacy

Your digital footprint is the trail of data you leave across the internet, from social media posts to old forum accounts to data broker records. Auditing it shows you exactly what information about you is publicly accessible and gives you a clear action plan for reducing your exposure.

Why This Matters

Most people dramatically underestimate how much personal information is publicly available about them. A 2023 Pew Research study found that 67% of Americans feel they have little to no control over what companies and the government do with their data. Your digital footprint is used by data brokers to build profiles sold to marketers, employers, insurers, and scammers. It is used by social engineers to craft convincing phishing attacks. Every piece of personal information online, from your mother's maiden name to your childhood pet's name, is a potential answer to a security question that protects your accounts.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Google yourself thoroughly. Search your full name, name plus city, phone number in quotes, email addresses, and any usernames you commonly use. Check the first five pages of results. Save or screenshot everything relevant, noting which sites have your information.
  2. Check the major people-search and data broker sites directly. Search for yourself on Spokeo, WhitePages, BeenVerified, TruePeopleSearch, FastPeopleSearch, Intelius, and Radaris. Document what each site shows: name, addresses, phone numbers, email, relatives, and property records.
  3. Audit your social media accounts. Log out and view your profiles as a stranger would. On Facebook, use the "View As" feature. Check what information is public on LinkedIn, Instagram, X/Twitter, TikTok, and any other platforms. Note any personal details that are publicly visible: birthday, employer, location, phone number, email.
  4. Search for old accounts you have forgotten about. Use your email's search function to find old registration confirmation emails. Check https://haveibeenpwned.com/ for a list of sites that had your email in breaches, which reveals accounts you may have forgotten. Try logging in to these old accounts and either delete them or remove personal information.
  5. Check what Google knows about you at myaccount.google.com/data-and-privacy. Review your location history, search history, YouTube history, and ad personalization profile. Download your data archive to see the full extent.
  6. Review app permissions on your phone. Go through every app and review what permissions it has: location, camera, microphone, contacts, photos. Revoke permissions that are not essential for the app's function.
  7. Create a cleanup action plan. Based on your audit, prioritize: submit opt-outs to data brokers, delete or deactivate old accounts, tighten privacy settings on active accounts, and remove unnecessary personal information from profiles.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Only Googling your name once: Search multiple variations: full name, maiden name, name plus different cities you have lived in, phone numbers, email addresses, and usernames.
  • Ignoring image search: Use Google Images reverse search to see where your photos appear online. Facial recognition tools used by data brokers can link photos to your identity.
  • Auditing once and never again: Your digital footprint grows constantly. Set a reminder to repeat this audit every 6-12 months.
  • Feeling overwhelmed and giving up: You do not have to clean everything up in one session. Start with the highest-risk items (data brokers showing your address and phone number) and work through the rest over time.

Additional Tips

  • Use a paid data removal service like Optery or DeleteMe to automate data broker opt-outs and get ongoing monitoring for re-listings.
  • Set up a Google Alert for your full name (google.com/alerts) to be notified when new content about you appears online.
  • Going forward, use unique email aliases (available through iCloud+, SimpleLogin, or Firefox Relay) for different categories of accounts to make your digital footprint harder to aggregate.

Last updated: February 10, 2026