More than a third of Canadians say they would delete their internet presence entirely if they could, according to a new survey.
The survey, commissioned by cybersecurity and VPN provider NordVPN, included 10,800 participants from 11 countries, including 1,000 Canadians. It found that 36 per cent of Canadians would “delete” themselves from the internet if they could.
Additionally, 48% of Canadians feel taken advantage of by companies collecting their data, while 47% express concerns that someone could eventually hack into their devices.
“While removing yourself from the internet sounds like a good idea to those worried about their personal information being exposed to the wrong entities, you have to ask yourself if completely wiping the slate clean is possible in our digitally dominated world,” said the NordVPN expert of Digital Privacy Daniel Marcuson in a news release Tuesday.
Canada is the country with the highest percentage of respondents who want their financial information removed. Of respondents in Canada, 60 percent said they would most like to see their personal financial information removed from the Internet, compared to 56 percent of Australians and 52 percent of Britons.
Unflattering photos, embarrassing moments, old dating and social media profiles and previous work history were other examples of information Canadians said they were willing to delete.
Last year, a federal judge ruled that Google search results fall under Canadian privacy laws, a victory for digital privacy activists calling for Canada to affirm the “right to be forgotten.” This case involved a man who asked Google to deindex articles that appeared in searches of his name.
NordVPN recommends deleting old social media accounts you don’t use or setting them to private. The company also encourages sending a takedown request to the web giants, asking them to remove any information they have about you.
“While this isn’t a guarantee that they’ll comply, many will, and it’s a good way to get companies like Facebook to remove the data they still hold on you after you’ve deleted your account,” says NordVPN.
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