If You're Worried About a Post from 10 Years Ago Before an Interview... 'Online Footprint' Cleaners Who Erase Traces [New Jobs]

Data traces left when using the internet
Thoroughly searched and deleted to protect customers

What if a joke I posted on social media (SNS) 10 years ago suddenly became a source of controversy right before an important interview? What if someone secretly snooped on my online search history and exposed it on another website?

For those of us living in the digital age, these questions are no longer mere hypotheticals but real "threats." Nowadays, even trivial comments left on SNS, as well as internet usage records, can ignite controversies across politics, business, and entertainment. This is why agencies that erase the traces we unknowingly leave behind in the online world?our "online footprints"?are emerging.

The Footprints I Carelessly Leave on the Internet

Footprints. Pixabay

"Online footprints" refer to the access records left by internet users on various SNS, websites, and more. Typically, when a user's computer connects to a web server, it leaves behind a small piece of data called a "cookie." Originally designed to facilitate smooth web access, cookies can also be reverse-tracked to monitor a user's computer usage history. The traces I unknowingly leave scattered across the internet world are precisely these "online footprints."

While online footprints are indispensable for continuing our internet activities, they are a double-edged sword because they also threaten our privacy. In today’s hyper-connected society, everything from posts directly left on SNS like YouTube and Instagram to minor access records can become gateways to privacy invasion.

For this reason, specialized startups that erase online footprints have recently been emerging overseas. These companies either develop their own software that removes cookies in real time or directly delete online footprints that cannot be erased by software alone, effectively "deleting" their clients' presence from the internet world in various ways.

Privacy Protection Becoming Essential in the Internet World

Privacy protection has become an indispensable element in modern society. Pixabay

Most startups that remove online footprints provide personal information automatic removal programs. These programs run automatically once installed on a computer and erase all messages or data traces that could potentially infringe on the user's privacy in real time.

However, not all personal information can be deleted by software alone. For example, most online companies collect personal information related to users when they first "sign up," and this information may be stored in the company’s database for years even if the user withdraws. Due to various other factors, "digital traces I don’t know about" may still remain scattered throughout the internet world.

Experts in online footprint removal have the know-how to find and delete these digital traces one by one. They may request data deletion on behalf of clients through professional digital brokers or block attempts by other companies to collect clients’ personal information at an early stage.

The online footprint business originally targeted individuals, but recently, companies offering specialized services for corporations have increased. This indicates that privacy protection has become an urgent issue threatening not only individual business but also employees affiliated with corporations.