There are many reasons you might want to “delete yourself” from the internet. From receiving frustrating amounts of spam to protecting yourself from carefully crafted scams fueled by the availability of personal data. But it goes much deeper than that. Having your personal information floating around online leaves you more vulnerable to identity theft, a type of fraud that can lead to criminals opening lines of credit in your name. Stalkers can use location and other data to commit their crimes. Even the seemingly more mundane uses of personal data can be enough to make you want to delete yourself from the internet. You might find loan applications being inexplicably rejected, insurance premiums going up or job searches getting drawn out. Companies checking your credit rating is one thing, but these effects could stem from inaccurate, outdated or irrelevant information being used in decision-making processes that affect you in very real ways. What it means to “delete yourself from the internet” We’re not talking about completely disappearing from the internet. For one, this is very difficult if not impossible to do, even if you were to throw near-unlimited resources at the problem. It’s also probably not something you’d want to do even if you could. There’s a way you can keep making use of all the benefits the internet has to offer—like the unparalleled shopping, communication and information-sharing opportunities—without leaving yourself needlessly vulnerable to all the downsides. The key is getting your personal information under control. You don’t need to delete yourself entirely, it’s often enough to remove your personal information from circulation. “Personal information” includes things like your: Current and past names, and any aliases Current and past addresses Email addresses Phone numbers Educational background Work history Income bracket Licenses Certifications Marital status Sexual orientation Financial information Criminal record Court records And much, much more. Not exactly the kinds of details you’d want shady companies to package and resell behind your back, or put on Google Search so that anyone can buy access to them for as little as a dollar. There are two ways to tackle this problem, and you’ll need to do both to see long-term results: Figure out how you’re putting personal information online and bring it down to a level with which you’re comfortable Put a stop to companies grabbing and publishing or otherwise disseminating what personal data you do end up generating down the line. Just going about your day-to-day business generates personal data that can then be scooped up by companies that know how to monetize it at your expense. Everything from doing some online shopping to selling a house or vehicle leaves traces. Stop any personal information that’s already out there from being spread around We’re starting here because you’ve already got personal information doing the rounds online—pretty much everyone does. So the first thing you’ll need to do is interrupt the flow of what’s already out there. There are a couple of things you can do to make this happen. Stop companies packaging and selling your personal information online and off There are companies—called data brokers—that specialize in collecting, organizing and selling personal information. They get your personal data by scraping the web, purchasing or otherwise acquiring ready-made profiles, or a combination of the two. The most visible data brokers are commonly known as “people finder” or “people search” sites. You can see examples of these sites, and the information they have on you, simply by performing a web search for your full name, address or phone number. These sites will likely show you a free “teaser” of your profile, with the full records being locked behind a paywall. It gets worse: people search sites are just the tip of the data brokerage iceberg. Many data brokers operate in the background, selling personal information to other businesses and organizations rather than putting it on websites aimed at individuals. You won’t find these companies by simply searching for your details, but they’re out there. Hundreds of them. People search sites sell your data to anyone who’s willing to pay for access, including unscrupulous landlords, curious neighbours, nosy coworkers, stalkers, even scammers. Other data brokers will sell your data to: Advertisers Marketers Government agencies Insurance companies Banks Employers And many more. Thanks to state privacy laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), you can do something about this. To comply with laws like this, data brokers have to have an opt-out procedure in place to give people caught up in their personal-data dragnets a clear way out. You can track down these companies one by one and submit an opt-out request to each one. Some are just a matter of a couple of clicks and take 5 minutes to complete, others can be a real nightmare and can take 45 minutes or more. Add the time it takes to find them in the first place, and you’re looking at hundreds of hours in total. Or, you can sign up for an automated personal information removal service, like Incogni. These services already know where to find some of the most connected brokers and how to submit opt-out requests in line with their requirements—because virtually every one has a different procedure to follow. Incogni makes it easy for anyone to remove their personal information from being searched online. Subscribers get a 30-day moneyl-back guarantee on automated data removal services, including recurring removal from 220+ data broker sites. With flexible plans for just $7.49/month for one person (billed annualyy) or $16.49/month for the family plan, Incogni offers privacy protections against identity theft, scam robocalls, and exposure after breached data. Get Incogni Remove your personal information from Google Search results You’ve seen how a search engine can reveal your personal information to anyone who knows your name, address, email or phone number. With the latest “face-search” technology, they don’t even have to know that much, a surreptitiously taken photo is all it takes. Google Search, with its monopoly over the search market, is likely the first place most people will look. Google won’t always agree to remove links from its search results and, even if it does, it can only remove links from Google Search: it can’t affect the content itself and it can’t stop that content from showing up on other search engines. To have content taken down at the source, you’ll need to contact the relevant webmaster. Here’s a quick rundown of your options on Google Search: Use this form to remove outdated content Use this form to remove harmful or illegal content (as long as it violates Google’s terms of service) Finally, use this form to remove content that contains “select personally identifiable information (PII) or doxxing content.” Stop new personal information from getting out into the wild Stopping data brokers from buying and selling your data and getting Google Search to remove your personal information from its search results can only do so much if you keep allowing new personal information to appear online. “Allowing” might be a bit harsh, given that you might not be aware of how some of your data is getting out there. We’ll get to that. Stop publishing personal information online Social media platforms are careful to use words like “share” when encouraging users to publish content, including personal information. “Sharing” makes it sound like you have some control over who sees what you post. But “publishing” is more accurate: social media posts are public by default. The best advice is as predictable as it is inconvenient: delete your social media accounts to protect your privacy and delete yourself from the internet. Short of doing that, here’s a list of things you can do to limit the damage: Switch from mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and X (Twitter) to decentralized and open-source platforms like Mastodon. Set any social media profiles you decide to keep to private mode, so that only people you know and trust can see your posts. Check and double-check anything you decide to post publicly for personal information, this will become second nature sooner than you might think. Turn location services off on mobile devices before posting, many social media platforms will grab this information from your device, some will append it to your posts. Check photos for anything that could reveal personal information, look out for reflections, documents, screens (that show private information), and unique identifiers like car registration plates. Strip photos of metadata—metadata is text that’s automatically attached to photos and contains a lot of information about the location at which the photo was taken as well as the device on which it was taken. Apply the same level of caution when uploading video and audio recordings. The same holds true for any blogging or vlogging you do, the comments you leave on various platforms, and anything you post on forums. Stop your devices from leaking personal information The above best practices come into play when you’re actively publishing information online, but a lot of personal data leaves your devices when you’d least suspect it. Here are just some examples: Apps and programs Mobile apps and computer programs that have been granted access to location data, device information, microphone and camera inputs, and files (including documents, photos, videos and audio recordings) can leak personal information while you’re not even using them. Such apps and programs might have been set up to “dial home” periodically and upload your data. This might be necessary to support their features, or it might be to harvest data that’s then sold to advertisers in order to generate revenue—free apps are often monetized in this way. Even apps developed with the most honest of intentions and collecting only the bare minimum of data can be hijacked by malicious actors (think: hackers) and have any data they have access to stolen (“breached”). Delete any apps and programs you haven’t used in a while. For particularly data-hungry apps like Facebook, Amazon, and so on, consider using the respective websites instead. Web browsers Browsers are a special category of app or program, mainly because we do so much through a browser. They have access not only to hardware (like cameras and microphones), but also information (in the form of files) and—perhaps most importantly—to users’ behaviour and movements across the web. And no, “incognito” or “private” mode doesn’t do anything to help you here. Diligently research any browser you decide to use. Options like Google’s Chrome are very secure but not private, whereas something like Mozilla’s Firefox is both secure and private. Stick to well-known and trusted browsers, avoid new browsers that don’t have an established track record, and watch out for browsers that had a good reputation in the past but have since changed hands. Browser-based games Games can take a lot of resources to develop and maintain, so you might wonder how so many impressive-looking browser-based games can be offered for free. Often, it’s by collecting and selling or otherwise monetizing personal information. Avoid free online, especially browser-based, games. Be particularly wary of games with development teams from countries like China and Russia. Again, even games produced by the most trustworthy and well-intentioned developers can be breached by third parties. Any stockpile of personal data is going to be a target for hackers and other bad actors. Operating systems This is one that’s more for the technically minded, but it’s worth keeping in mind for everyone. The operating system on your device (whether Windows, macOS, Android or iOS) has access to everything you do on that device. Both Microsoft and Apple harvest personal data from their users, and both have business interests in protecting that data from competitors and bad actors. There are two problems here: Microsoft and/or Apple having vast stores of your personal data is a bad thing in and of itself, and neither company is able to guarantee the security of that data—both have suffered and continue to suffer data breaches. Alternatives exist, mainly in the form of Linux and the BSDs. These operating systems are open-source, meaning that anyone can review their source code to look for security vulnerabilities and privacy threats. As a result of this transparency, and the general absence of corporate interests, these systems are both more secure and more private. The catch is that these operating systems are unfamiliar to most people, and can take some getting used to. Although the Linux operating system in particular has many extremely user-friendly “versions” (called distributions) available, and almost all of them are readily given away, free of charge. Stop your online accounts from leaking personal information We covered how publishing personal information online can jeopardize your privacy, but you don’t have to actively post things yourself for the information to get out there. If you’re active online, and especially if you do a lot of online shopping, you can easily have hundreds of online accounts out there. Many of which you probably only used once, to grab that Black Friday deal, for example. Apart from the fact that you’re effectively trusting dozens if not hundreds of companies to not misuse your data, you’re also trusting that they won’t leave that data unsecured, that they won’t be bought out by less scrupulous companies, and so on. The solution is simple, but it might require some tedious work: delete any accounts you don’t need anymore. If you’ve been using a password manager (like Bitwarden), this shouldn’t be too difficult. Otherwise, search through your emails for keywords like “welcome” and “verification” to ferret out evidence of old accounts. Protect your data with Incogni Read...

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Nope, Sony isn’t quite done with Blu-ray yet.  Barely two months after announcing that it’s exiting the recordable Blu-ray business, Sony has revealed something of a surprise: its first new Blu-ray player in roughly five years. Just keep your expectations in check as far as features go. Slated to go on sale in Japan during the April-May timeframe, the Sony UBP-X700/K is 4K Blu-ray player that’s a variant of the older UBP-X700, the latter of which is a popular choice for budget-minded physical media aficionados. What’s different about the UBP-X700/K is what it doesn’t have, with FlatpanelsHD reporting that the player drops the bulk of the X700’s wireless networking abilities and services, including Spotify Connect, screen mirroring, and video streaming channels, such as Netflix.  The spec sheet for the X700/K says nothing about integrated Wi-Fi (a feature on the older player), but the new device does offer an ethernet port, likely for firmware updates. Otherwise, the X700/K has most of its predecessor’s video and audio features, including Dolby Vision HDR, Dolby Atmos, and DTX:X support.   It’s not clear if the UBP-X700/K will arrive in the U.S., but you never know. Curiously, FlatpanelsHD notes that the Japanese list price for the new player represents a 25 percent markup compared to the older X700. As a former owner of the UBP-X700, I can say from experience that losing the player’s networking abilities is no big loss. I never used them, instead opting for the streaming services on my Apple TV set-top box. And while I did (very rarely) update the player’s firmware via Wi-Fi, you can just as easily do so over ethernet.  A welcome (if unlikely) improvement on the UBP-X700/K would be automatic detection of Dolby Vision HDR on a UHD Blu-ray disc. The older UBP-X700 doesn’t auto-detect Dolby Vision, meaning you must remember to engage the setting before playing a Dolby Vision disc—or, conversely, turn it off before watching an HDR10-only disc. I can’t tell you how many times I’d forgotten to toggle the setting (or lost track of which discs offer Dolby Vision and which don’t), and getting the HDR setting wrong does make a different in image quality.  Another UBP-X700 issue that’s hopefully been addressed (again, don’t hold your breath) is how the player handles triple-layer UHD discs. My X700 player routinely froze when switching between the second and third disc layers—meaning, for example, my Top Gun: Maverick disc would always freeze on Tom Cruise’s eye as he lay in the snow after ejecting from his F/A-18 fighter jet. For that reason, I ultimately ditched the X700 for the much pricier Panasonic DP-UB820.  All that aside, the big news with Sony’s latest UHD Blu-ray player isn’t it’s feature set, but the fact that Sony is making a new Blu-ray player of any sort. Most of the other big players in this space, including LG, Oppo, and Samsung, departed the field long ago, leaving just Panny and Sony (which quit the recordable Blu-ray market back in January) as the lone big-name manufacturers still making Blu-ray boxes.  In other words, Blu-ray is still not dead. Long live Blu-ray! Read...

Trying to buy a new graphics card right now is an incredible gauntlet of high demand, poor availability, and resellers trying to become profitable middlemen. But one system integrator—someone who assembles and sells pre-built PCs out of retail or bulk-bought components—says the problem isn’t just at retail. He claims he’s getting “scalped” on the price of RTX 5090 cards directly from distributors. PowerGPU is a fairly typical boutique PC builder, offering a selection of gaming desktop builds at different prices with a selection of parts from well-known suppliers. But six weeks after the launch of the RTX 5090, the store’s configuration tool for US buyers is showing an estimated wait for the top-of-the-line card at “3 to 4 months.” AMD’s new cards—the RX 9070 and 9070 XT—are apparently ready to go in new builds, but Nvidia’s RTX 5080 and 5070 Ti are showing wait times of 1 to 2 months. Jese Martinez, CEO of PowerGPU, took to Twitter/X to vent his frustration and explain the situation to customers. In a four-minute video (spotted by PCMag), Martinez claims that even as a business with more direct access to the PC parts distribution network, PowerGPU is having just as much trouble getting the RTX 5090 as everyone else. “We’re also having very much difficulty getting these GPUs. We’ve gotten a very limited quantity since launch, and it took about two or three weeks just to get our first batch. … Now we’re going into mid-March and we’re essentially, even from distribution, we’re getting scalped. Literally.” A significant video from our founder/CEO on the RTX 5090 pricing. pic.twitter.com/6GEvYFkD9K— PowerGPU (@PowerGPU) March 13, 2025 Martinez quoted prices that are basically 50 percent inflated from the RTX 5090’s base price of $2,000 USD, which has been nigh-impossible to actually buy for retail customers between low availability for the Founder’s Edition and similar MSRP designs, inflated prices on other SKUs, and resellers jacking up prices. In the US, the Trump regime’s punishing import tariffs might be another factor, but honestly, we’d be seeing huge markups even without that additional headache. “We’re literally getting offered GPUs (5090s) at cost for us, anywhere from $3,050 to $3,100,” said Martinez. “And these are not even high-end models. These are low-to-mid-range models.” It’s worth pointing out that Martinez didn’t offer direct evidence of these sky-high prices coming from distributors. Sitting in front of a MacBook, it appears that he intended to show screenshots of other evidence in the final edit of the video. But a footnote reads: “After looking at our agreement, we can talk about it but can’t show you the email.” Now for a little context. Taking Martinez at his word, it’s true that PowerGPU’s relationships with distributors does undoubtedly give them more options than you or I have when it comes to acquiring new GPUs. But system integrators are a relatively small player in the marketplace. They don’t have as much swing as, say, Corsair selling very similar desktops, combining off-the-shelf components with the company’s own cases and cooling hardware. And it wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as the prices that companies like Acer or Dell can get by buying in bulk. But it does show that PC gamers aren’t the only ones struggling to pay reasonable prices for the latest graphics cards. And, apparently, not the only ones getting extremely frustrated by the process. Read...

Laptops with ample storage can be pricey, especially because they don’t go on sale as often as smaller options do. I’ve seen it so many times — a base model laptop goes on sale for hundreds of dollars off, but the model with more storage remains full price. That’s why I’m telling you to buy the less-expensive laptop model and upgrade the storage yourself. Of course, it’s easier said than done. You have to make sure the laptop is easily upgradable, which isn’t always a given. Gaming laptops and business laptops are fairly easy to open, with plenty of helpful YouTube videos that’ll walk you through any given model. But ultra-thin, ultra-portable laptops often sacrifice upgradability to do what they do. Still, if you don’t mind shopping around, this is a great way to acquire a laptop with lots of storage at a cheaper price. I’ve personally done it with multiple laptops and I’ve saved hundreds each time. Here’s what you need to know to start doing this yourself. Upgrading the storage on your laptop could be easier than you think If your laptop has upgradable storage, the actual upgrade process will likely be easy — so easy that it may even surprise you. But it’s also possible that the manufacturer made the laptop nearly impossible to open, in which case upgrading will also be near impossible. For laptops that aren’t designed with ease of service in mind, it might not be worth the effort. Even if you could get it open, the storage slots might be hidden under other components, requiring that you disassemble things further to even get at it. If the storage is soldered to the motherboard, you can’t realistically replace it at all. (In that case, there are other ways to add laptop storage.) Checking your laptop’s upgradability To determine how easy it is to upgrade your laptop’s storage, I recommend performing a web search for the name of your laptop plus “upgrade SSD” or “replace SSD.” You should find YouTube videos that give you a sense of what it takes to open it up and get inside. You could also look up your laptop’s official service manual, too. What’s involved when replacing the storage on your laptop? If your laptop supports storage upgrades, then all you have to do is buy an NVMe SSD that fits your laptop. Most laptops fit standard M.2 2280 (80mm long) SSDs, but more compact models may need a smaller M.2 2230 (30mm long) or M.2 2242 (42mm long) drive. Be sure to get the right form factor for your laptop — you can find those details on the web or in your laptop’s service manual. Framework Laptops are known for their upgradability via modular design. This Framework Laptop 13 is one of our favorites for unmatched repairability.Chris Hoffman / Foundry Also, don’t just buy any old SSD. If you cheap out on a low-end SSD, you’ll get low-end speeds. Many modern laptops now support PCIe Gen4 SSDs, which are faster than older PCIe Gen3 SSDs, so be sure to get a drive that takes advantage of it if your laptop supports it. (Check out PCWorld’s recommended PCIe Gen4 SSDs.) Once you have the SSD, you’ll need to open your laptop. Depending on the laptop, it may just take a few screws… but there’s also a chance you’ll need a “spudger” to pry apart the laptop’s base from the plastic tabs that hold the laptop frame together. With many modern laptops, upgrading the SSD truly is as simple as plugging in and out of a slot. The only question is, how easily accessible is the storage slot in your laptop?Chris Hoffman / Foundry Once you’re in, you just have to access the storage. On many laptops, that means unfastening a screw, pulling the existing SSD out, sliding your new SSD into the slot, and re-fastening the screw. (On some gaming laptops, business laptops, and otherwise modular laptops, you may even spot an empty second SSD slot. If you do, you can just add your SSD without removing the current one and use both at the same time!) Lastly, with the new SSD in your laptop, make sure you take care of it. Avoid these mistakes that kill SSDs early! Is buying cheaper and upgrading the storage really worth the effort? Upgrading a laptop’s storage on your own is usually worth it, especially if you can find those lower-end models with less storage on sale. Many laptops have base models that are surprisingly inexpensive to snag budget-conscious shoppers, with notable price bumps for higher-end models that come pre-packaged with more storage and RAM. This strategy works best when you can scoop up a base model laptop at a bargain. I mean, if it costs $100 to jump up from the 512GB model to the 1TB model and it costs $90 to buy a comparable SSD, then it isn’t worth the time to save a measly $10. But if the 512GB model is on sale for $400 off while the 1TB model sits at full price, then you’re suddenly looking at a $500 difference — a huge opportunity to save some cash. Manufacturers often bundle laptop storage upgrades with more RAM and other niceties. That’s great, but it means you’re overpaying if you only want the extra storage capacity but don’t need the extra RAM. You’ll have to run the numbers yourself. What’s the price of the laptop you’re looking at, how much more for the higher-end model with extra storage, and how much would an SSD upgrade cost? Some gotchas to look out for Aside from the unfortunate reality that not every laptop is realistically upgradable, there’s one other big gotcha to watch out for — if you end up replacing the SSD in whatever laptop you get, that SSD is going to be empty (i.e., you’ll need to install an operating system on it). If you want to keep using the laptop as it was before, you’ll have to image the drive before you swap it out. That means creating a backup copy of the drive and all its files, then copying it all to the new SSD. Otherwise, you can swap the new-but-empty SSD into your laptop, then use something like a USB flash drive to install Windows or Linux. Be careful when opening up your laptop and fiddling around with the components. Any accidental damage is your responsibility.Gordon Mah Ung / Foundry It’s a little easier if you end up buying a laptop with multiple SSD slots. In that case, you can leave the main SSD (which has the operating system already installed on it) and simply install your new SSD into the other available SSD slot. This is the most ideal option. One more thing to keep in mind: your laptop’s warranty. Your laptop manufacturer may void the warranty if you open up your laptop for any reason. This clause is more common on thin-and-light ultrabooks that aren’t designed to be opened, less common on gaming and business laptops that are meant to be upgraded and/or serviced. That said, if you break something while opening the laptop, that’s still on you. Don’t “buy cheap and upgrade” if… Buying a less expensive laptop and upgrading the storage yourself is often worth it, but here’s when you shouldn’t do it: If the laptop isn’t easily serviceable, then it’s just not possible. If the cost of bumping up storage capacity at the time of purchase is reasonable, then you may not save any money. If you aren’t prepared to image the existing drive or reinstall Windows from scratch, then you may not want to do it. If you don’t want to waste time upgrading the drive on your own, then it may be worth paying the premium at checkout. In all other cases, if you’re comfortable opening up a laptop and if you’re willing to spend a few minutes doing the replacement yourself, then you can often save hundreds of dollars by buying the cheaper laptop model on sale and swapping out for (or plugging in) your own SSD. I highly encourage you to give it a try — assuming the stars line up to make it feasible and worth the effort! Further reading: Portable SSDs are great for more than just backups Read...

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