How can I remove my info from the internet and set up parental controls for my kids?

In today’s world, we all rely on devices and screens for much of our daily life. They’re present at work and school, and we often need them just to get from point A to point B. So how can you make sure your kids are using the internet safely and securely while protecting their privacy?

Unless you take steps to protect your privacy, websites will track and sell your data to anyone — from marketers to hackers and scammers. It’s easier than ever before for people to find sensitive and personal information about you online. With just your full name, anyone can look you up through search engines, social media, and dedicated data brokers.

Beyond posing a massive privacy threat, the availability of these online records is a potential gold mine for identity thieves, hackers, and scammers. It’s no wonder that:

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How to protect your privacy and personal information online

Follow these 5 steps if you’re concerned about how much personal information is available about you online.

1. Use strong and unique passwords with 2FA

Strong passwords are the most important — and sometimes the only — protection we have against identity theft and hackers. Just think about how much personal information could be found in your email account — such as bank account details, home addresses, or even your Social Security number (SSN).

If you don’t already have passwords or passcodes for all your devices (including guest accounts), add them now.

• Store passwords in a secure password manager. Make sure that you’re using strong and unique passwords on your online accounts. Since you probably have dozens of accounts, a password manager is an easier way to keep the information secure. Here's how you can view your saved passwords and add them to a password manager.
• Enable two-factor authentication(2FA). This is secondary secure measure that can even protect you if you’ve shared your password with hackers in a phishing scam. If you’ve ever needed to type in a code sent to you via text message, you’ve used two-factor authentication before.
• Set devices to automatically lock when not using them. Hackers can evade even a strong password if your device doesn’t automatically lock. For devices that use fast biometric authentication like fingerprint scanning or facial recognition instead of a code, the best setting is "30 seconds" or “immediately.”

2. Tighten privacy settings on your social media accounts

You don’t have to delete your social media accounts to improve online privacy. Instead, it can be enough to simply review the privacy settings on the online accounts you use regularly.

The best settings for you depend on what you want to share and what you want to protect. But there are a few areas where you should pay careful attention.

1. Location tracking. Consider turning off automatic geolocation data on your social media posts, photos, and comments.
2. Public information. Think carefully about what information should be public, hidden, or somewhere in-between. There are typically three levels of data: profile data, your content, and your interactions with other content.
3. Likes, shares, and comments. We usually think about limiting what we share, but your “likes” and comments on other posts are usually public as well. Profile pictures, names, and comments on other posts often show up in search results, even for “private” accounts.

3. Stop search engines from tracking you

Your search engine collects a huge amount of personal data about you. And for 92% of us, that search engine is Google [*].

The first step to improving search engine privacy is deleting your data.

1. For Google: Go to the My Activity dashboard and delete everything.
2. For Microsoft: You’ll need to clear data separately from Microsoft Edge and Bing.
3. For Yahoo: You can delete data from search history management.

4. Request that data brokers remove your personal information

Data brokers are services that scrape the internet and public records for your personal information — and then sell it to advertisers, marketers, or even scammers. While you can request that data brokers remove your information, the honest truth is that there are hundreds of data brokers in the U.S. alone, each with their own process for requesting a data removal. Even worse, sometimes requesting a removal can mean providing even more personal data to these companies.

To remove your personal data from data brokers you have two options:

1. Contact each data broker individually. PrivacyRights.org has a list of data brokers with instructions on how to request that they remove your data. You can go through the list and contact each company separately.
2. Use Aura to automatically remove your data. Aura plans include an automatic data broker removal service that will scan data broker databases and request that they remove your personal data on your behalf.

5. Monitor your sensitive information with identity theft protection

No matter how much information you remove from the internet, data leaks happen. When your personal data is available, it puts you at risk of scams, hacking, identity theft, or simply more spam. If your personal information is leaked or being used fraudulently by scammers, Aura will warn you in near-real time and give you the support and help you need to shut fraudsters down. Keep your online life private (and safe). Try Aura's privacy-first plans.

Here’s how Aura’s identity theft protection helps online privacy:

• Monitors your most sensitive personal information 24/7. Aura can track your most sensitive personal information and warn you if it’s been leaked.
• Automatically removes your information from data broker lists. Aura will scan data broker lists and automatically request that they remove your contact details.
• Protects your devices and data from hackers. Aura includes antivirus software, a military-grade VPN, AI-powered scam protection, and Safe Browsing tools to protect you from hackers.
• Securely stores your passwords and warns you if they’ve been leaked. Aura’s password manager securely stores your passwords and gives you easy access to them when you need them. Aura will also warn you if your passwords are too weak or were recently leaked in a data breach.
• Blocks ad trackers, fake websites, and more. Aura’s Privacy Assistant stops websites and apps from tracking you and can also block fake websites that could be trying to steal or collect your personal information.

Parental controls are a great option for many families. They implement safety precautions while maintaining trust in your kids and teaching them the value of moderation and mindful technology consumption.

How to use parental controls and protect your kids online

The internet holds endless exciting opportunities for kids and adults. The flipside is that even when you trust your kids, you can never truly know what content is making its way into their orbit. It’s tempting to exert as much control as possible over your kids’ screen usage. By using parental controls, you can help your child learn to make safe choices and self-monitor content, setting them up for healthier screen usage in the long run.

Parental controls are a system of locks and restrictions put in place on individual devices, apps, and platforms. Many browsers, apps, and content platforms have  parental control options you can set up. This means your kids can go online without you standing in the background monitoring them. You can even use parental controls to set time limits. Aura’s Family Plan supports five adults and an unlimited number of children for only and $37 per month includes: 

• 5 Adults, Unlimited Kids
• Mobile Device Management
• Filter & Block Inappropriate Content
• Screen Time Limits
• Pause the Internet
• Customize for Each Family Member
• Safe Gaming + Online Predator Alerts
• Works on iOS & Android

You can read more about how to setup and use parental controls in this article, Parental controls: your guide to safeguarding kids online.