Why you need a digital spring cleaning (and how Incogni makes it effortless)

Published: (May 3, 2026 at 09:42 AM EDT)
3 min read
Source: 9to5Mac

Source: 9to5Mac

Spring cleaning your digital life

Incogni

As winter finally thaws and the weather warms up, we’re all tackling our annual spring‑cleaning routines. We declutter our closets and deep‑clean our homes, yet we often overlook our digital lives.

Personal information like your home address, phone number, date of birth, and financial history is scattered across the internet and actively collected and sold by invisible data brokers. Spring is the time to take out the digital trash and reclaim your privacy with Incogni—9to5Mac readers can save 55 % right now.

Why you should spring clean your data and save 300 hours of manual opt‑outs

Why should you bother scrubbing your online footprint? The urgency goes far beyond simply avoiding creepy, targeted ads.

  • Stop data‑broker profiling. These companies sell your sensitive details to corporate marketers, and the same information is easily accessible to scammers, hackers, and stalkers.
  • Reduce identity‑theft risk. By minimizing your online footprint you make it significantly harder for criminals to gather the “puzzle pieces” (family members’ details, date of birth, etc.) needed to steal your identity.
  • Remove your information from invasive people‑search sites, which directly curtails nuisance contacts.
  • Experience a real reduction in the daily volume of robocalls, spam texts, and junk mail.
  • Clean up search results so that potential employers, colleagues, or strangers don’t see outdated public records or highly sensitive personal details.

It’s shocking how much personal data is out there when you don’t monitor it. Incogni will save you hundreds of hours from tracking down manual opt‑outs.

Steps to delete your online presence

  1. Scrub search engines – Use Google’s “Results about you” tool to request removal of search results that prominently contain your personal contact information.
  2. Deactivate unused accounts – Delete old social‑media profiles, abandoned shopping accounts, and forgotten forum memberships that still store your data.
  3. Restrict app permissions – On your smartphone, go through settings and revoke access to location, microphone, and contacts for apps that don’t strictly require them.
  4. Clear browser data – Regularly wipe cache and cookies, or switch to a privacy‑focused browser to stop background trackers from rebuilding your profile.

How to take control of your online data with 55 % off Incogni

Dealing with data brokers directly is incredibly frustrating. Manually opting out of these massive databases can take over 300 hours of tedious, repetitive work. The smartest approach is to automate the process with Incogni.

  • Incogni automatically sends and monitors removal requests to over 420 data brokers on your behalf.
  • Because brokers often re‑add your information after an initial deletion, Incogni provides continuous monitoring to keep your data off their lists permanently.
  • Their processes are Deloitte‑verified and third‑party audited, ensuring they deliver on their data‑removal promises.

Give your online privacy a much‑needed spring cleaning. 9to5Mac readers can get 55 % off Incogni using the code 9TO5MAC (link). With a 30‑day money‑back guarantee, it’s a completely risk‑free way to reclaim your digital privacy today.

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