Having control over the visibility of your profile is an important part of managing your privacy online. Here are some tips on how to hide your profile from public view on various social media platforms and sites.
Hide Your Facebook Profile
Facebook allows you to control who can see your profile and posts. Here’s how to hide your Facebook profile from public view:
- Go to your Facebook profile and click on the down arrow in the top right corner. Select “Settings”.
- On the left sidebar, click “Privacy”.
- Under the “How people find and contact you” section, click “Who can see your future posts?”.
- Select “Friends” or customize your settings.
- Under “Who can see your friends list?” select “Only Me”.
- Under “Who can look you up using the email address you provided?” select “Friends”.
- Under “Who can look you up using the phone number you provided?” select “Friends”.
- Scroll down and click “Limit Past Posts” and limit old posts to “Only Me”.
With these settings, only your Facebook friends will be able to see your profile and posts. Your profile won’t show up in public Facebook searches.
Make Your Instagram Account Private
To make your Instagram profile private:
- Go to your profile page
- Tap the menu (three horizontal lines) in the top right
- Go to Settings > Privacy
- Toggle “Private Account” on
This will make your profile and posts visible only to your approved followers.
Remove Your Twitter Profile from Google Search
You can prevent your Twitter profile from appearing in Google search results by:
- Going to your Twitter account settings
- Selecting “Security and account access”
- Unchecking the box for “Let others find me by my email address”
This will remove your Twitter profile from Google search results. Your tweets will still show up if you don’t make your account private.
Hide Your LinkedIn Profile
To hide your LinkedIn profile from public view:
- Click on your profile icon and select “Settings & Privacy”
- Go to “Privacy settings”
- Under “Profile viewing options”, select “Private mode”
This will make your profile invisible to anyone you are not connected to on LinkedIn.
Remove Yourself from Spokeo and Other People Search Sites
Sites like Spokeo, PeekYou, and PeopleFinder index public information and make profiles searchable. To get removed:
- Search for yourself on the site to find your listing
- Click on “Opt-out” or “Remove listing” and submit the request
- Confirm through email
You can also contact the site directly to expedite removal.
Make Your YouTube Channel Private
Making your YouTube channel private prevents random viewers from seeing your videos, comments, likes, and subscribers. To do this:
- Sign in to YouTube Studio
- Go to Settings > Channel
- Under “Privacy”, toggle “Keep all my videos private” on
Your existing videos will remain public, but any new uploads will be private. You can also manually set old videos to private.
Remove Yourself from Reverse Phone Lookup Sites
Various sites allow looking up who a phone number belongs to. Follow these steps to opt out of major reverse phone lookup sites:
- Opt out on Whitepages
- Opt out on Spokeo
- Opt out on Intelius
- Opt out on BeenVerified
- Opt out on MyLife
This will get your phone number removed from the top reverse lookup sites. Note you may have to opt-out periodically as your info could get re-indexed.
Remove Yourself from Data Broker Sites
Data brokers aggregate information about people into profiles sold to marketers. Getting removed from major data broker sites improves your privacy:
| Site | Opt-Out Link |
|---|---|
| Acxiom | Opt-Out |
| LexisNexis | Opt-Out |
| Experian | Opt-Out |
| Equifax | Opt-Out |
| Oracle Data Cloud | Opt-Out |
Opting out through these links submits removal requests directly to each broker. This helps limit the spread of your personal data.
Browse Anonymously with Tor Browser
Tor Browser routes your web traffic through multiple servers making your browsing untraceable. To install:
- Download Tor Browser from torproject.org
- Open Tor Browser after installing
- Avoid signing into accounts or providing personal info
Tor makes it very difficult for sites to identify and track you. Use it any time you want to browse anonymously.
Use Anonymous Payment Methods
Paying for things anonymously helps avoid linking purchases to your identity. Some anonymous payment options include:
- Prepaid debit cards you register with a fake name
- Gift cards purchased with cash
- Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
- Cash (for in-person transactions)
By using these instead of payment methods tied to your real identity, you sever the connection between your purchases and who you are.
Frequently Clear Cookies and Cache
Clearing your cookies and cache periodically removes browsing history that can identify you:
| Browser | Instructions to Clear Cookies/Cache |
|---|---|
| Chrome | Settings > Privacy > Clear browsing data |
| Safari | Preferences > Privacy > Manage cookies and data |
| Firefox | Options > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data |
Do this regularly to remove cookies that track your browsing habits across sites.
Use a Temporary Phone Number
When you need to provide a phone number, a temporary number helps avoid linking it to your real identity:
- Google Voice – Get a free phone number to forward calls/texts
- Burner – App that provides temporary phone numbers
- TextNow – Lets you generate phone numbers to text/call with
Use these disposable numbers when signing up for accounts, newsletters, or anything else you want to provide anonymously.
Disable Location Services on Your Mobile Phone
Your phone’s location data can inadvertently reveal who you are and where you live/work. To limit this:
- On iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services
- Review each app and toggle location access off or select “While Using”
- On Android, go to Settings > Location > App Location Permission
- Toggle off location access or select “Allow only while app is in use”
Restrict location access to only essential apps to better protect your privacy.
Conclusion
Hiding your digital footprint requires being proactive about securing profiles, posts, phone numbers, purchases, browsing habits, location, and other identity markers. The tips above outline key ways to curtail the spread of your personal information online. Put these into practice to gain more control over your privacy.