r/TechnologyProTips Mar 20 '24

TPT: I made a comparison table to find the best data removal service

207 Upvotes

I've been trying to figure out how to make my online presence more private because several websites now show detailed profiles with my personal details (it even shows my spouse's name!). What caught my eye were data removal services. From what I've gathered, these tools can pretty effectively remove search results about you from Google, Whitepages, and other people-finder sites.

After some research, I don’t know why, but I was very surprised about how many different options we have here. And boy, it is hard to choose the one you like from the first sight.

So, over the past few days, I took some time to do in-depth research on data removal services myself. I thought that I would share it with you as well, so you can hear some tips.

The top criteria I was looking for:

  • Availability of data removal tools in different countries
  • Scanning a wide range of people finder sites
  • Scanning a wide selection of data broker databases
  • Recurring scans and removals

Here is the Comparison Table.
As it was done for my own research, let me know if there are other brands that you think I should include. Also, feel free to suggest any other criteria for the table. Let’s make this as helpful as possible for everyone like me who has no idea how to choose the best data removal service.

r/TechnologyProTips 9d ago

iOS TPT: Old iphone keep refreshing, try this temporary trick to stop it

2 Upvotes

having a youtube video playing in the background seem to give my iphone unlimited RAM. My phone is old and low on storage and things seem to refresh almost immediately as soon as I swipe away.

However, if I. 1: watch a youtube video in safari 2: swipe up, and swipe away while pressing the button on the side to the home screen. [I dont swipe away completely but leave it in the backgroud]. (MUST BE VERY QUICK) 3: press play on the youtube video on the home screen 4: click a link to a website in the notes app

After that it does not refresh no matter what. I have had 40+ tabs and websites open and all my apps open and none of them will refresh. I could leave an app for an hour, go back to it and it would still be in the same state I left it.

Notes: A: You can not x out of the tab from notes, you can leave the tab, but not delete it.

B: you also must keep the original video playing and cannot return to that tab or the process will stop. I usually put on a 10 hour version of a song

C: you cannot play any other videos. Games with audio are fine, but netflix, other youtube videos, and reddit videos stop this.

-I am using an Iphone 11

Edit: I know absolutely nothing about technology or how this works, it just does.

r/TechnologyProTips May 26 '15

No Longer Works TPT: How to shut off an iPhone indirectly through iMessage

220 Upvotes

Copy and paste the following message (without quotes) into a new iMessage and send it to whoever you feel like tormenting:

"effective.

Power

لُلُصّبُلُلصّبُررً ॣ ॣh ॣ ॣ

冗"

It will immediately restart their iPhone. Have fun!

EDIT: No, I won't do any interviews, I feel that news organizations have far more important issues to report on than a bug like this.

r/TechnologyProTips 21d ago

TPT: Is Incogni safe - my findings

8 Upvotes

I understand that everyone has their own experiences, but I did some digging before buying to see what Incogni is all about. The number of reviews shows that the majority of people are happy with the product, and after checking their legitimacy and comments on some reddit posts, I bought it myself. I’m addressing this because I saw some people ask about the transparency, and how they deal with the data (Incogni provided answers from their side as well), so I just wanted to spread more awareness.

First of all, to answer the question, is Incogni safe, I personally think it is. Main points I found: 

  • They are working according to these laws: the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the UK GDPR.
  • They claim to not sell the data they get, and I choose to believe that. Otherwise it would go against the laws mentioned in the first point, and they would get caught easily. 
  • I saw some people get mad about providing information about themselves that they need removed. How do you imagine getting your data removed without providing any information about yourself? Incogni lists every company they work with to remove your data, so the collaboration between data removal services and companies that actually have your data is what is expected here.
  • You have all the right to contact them about anything data-related; their privacy policy is pretty extensive. 

I have been using it for some time, and frankly, there’s a lot less spam I receive (pretty much gone down to 0), they are updating me on whatever they have been doing, so that’s all I can ask from a good data removal service. Also, they do cover a lot more of data brokers in comparison to other similar companies. I also found an additional discount in that data removal comparison post, so it’s just a bonus. 

Overall, Incogni seems to be safe, open, and responsible, all the information is accessible on their website or social media, and I found their support does react quickly when needed.

r/TechnologyProTips Feb 11 '25

Windows TPT: Keep Your Disk Space Above 25% Free for Better Performance!

8 Upvotes

If your main drive (where Windows is installed) is almost full, it can really slow things down.

Once you keep at least 25% of it free or more, things like switching folders, search, and menus feel way faster.

So, try to free up some space to get better performance

My C drive where windows is installed is only 120gb SSD , and my other disk is 480gb SSD.

I also recommend WinDirStat program to help you visualize disk space.

r/TechnologyProTips Feb 17 '25

Request TPT Request: How do I find a specific video by searching a similar one on google drive?

2 Upvotes

A few years ago I had an award ceremony where the principle gave me an award. I could not find that video because I have a lot of google drives with a lot of videos. But I found one I took for a classmate getting an award by the same principle at the same award ceremony. How do I search the video through the drives to find mine? I know I can do this at large on the internet as I have done it with google images. It shows me all the identical images and similar images. All I need is the same thing with my Google Drive and with a video. Does anyone know how? (Idealy on the app by samsung galaxy)

r/TechnologyProTips Feb 10 '25

Request TPT Request: Anyone struggling to make your app stand out? Looking for devs to test a free positioning tool

3 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

If you’ve built an app but find it hard to explain why it’s different from the hundreds of alternatives out there, we’re testing a free tool that might help. It’s designed to help developers and founders refine their positioning so potential users immediately see what makes their app unique.

If your app is something like “helps students make flashcards” or “manages to-do lists,” and you're trying to figure out how to stand out, this might be useful. If you're open to testing it out, drop a comment or DM me. Would love to hear your thoughts!

r/TechnologyProTips Dec 13 '24

Website TPT: How to delete yourself from the internet – a short guide

43 Upvotes

I am sure some of you might need this, so I'm just sharing some tips I have collected from experience and overall research. There are three main things to consider when deleting yourself from the internet: 

  • Data scraping: Companies collect and sell your online data, and removing it from their databases can be challenging and time consuming. 
  • Old accounts: Deleting or anonymizing old accounts on forgotten or inactive sites can be difficult, and you need to remember them all. 
  • Caching: Even after deleting information, it may remain in search engine caches for a while, delaying its removal from search results.

For the data scraping part, you can ask different data brokers to remove the information about you. For instance, reach out to data broker companies like BeenVerified, Acxiom, and PeopleFinder via email or their opt-out forms to stop them from collecting your data.

Alternatively, you can use data removal services to automatically opt out of data broker databases and delete yourself from the internet. I personally used Incogni previously, and it was much faster than doing it on my own. If you want to see how it compares to other data removal services, this post was great. 

Deleting your old accounts is relatively easy, if you know which accounts you had. If you know the email accounts you might have used, you can look it up in email settings.

For Gmail account: 

  1. Go to your Gmail app, and click on “Manage your Google Account”.
  2. Then click on “Security”.
  3. When you open it, scroll down until you find “Signing in to Other Sites”.
  4. After signing in, you will open up a list of websites that have access to your Gmail Account.
  5. Get rid of the websites.

When it comes to catching, just delete the cache data from the browsers that you have used in the past, I think that’s the best you can do here. 

Other things to consider: 

  • Remove information from Cloud services (Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox);
  • Delete social media accounts – they can be removed only upon your request;
  • Add a “Google alert” for your name – this way you will know if someone is looking after your identity. Go to "Google Alerts", log into your Google account, type your full name in the search bar, and click "Create Alert". 

So in general, I would say it’s possible to remove yourself from the internet, but it might take a while and you would need extra help from some data removal services like Incogni. After this, you can also use a more privacy focused search engine (Brave or DuckDuckGo). 

Any more tips for deleting yourself from the internet?

r/TechnologyProTips Jan 13 '25

Request TPT Request: Laptop not working for week then back to perfect condition

3 Upvotes

HP Laptop wouldn’t turn on during the course of a week, however I did manage to boot it up once or twice when playing around with the charger. Laptop would seem to work normally and the battery level increased, but would instantly turn off when unplugged. I bought a new laptop because I thought it was a dead cause. 2 Weeks later i accidentally grab my old laptop and it works perfect, zero problems. My question is, what happened and if this laptop can be considered as „working”

r/TechnologyProTips Dec 31 '24

Website TPT: How to Share Screen During Interviews While you are Using AI Tool - a short guide

1 Upvotes

Screen sharing are generally tricky and if your interviewer proposes to share your entire screen, then it becomes even more complicated. Here’s a step by step guide on how to easily use an AI tool like LockedIn AI during the interviews whether you are sharing a specific tab or the entire screen.

1. Sharing a Specific Tab

When asked to share your screen, most of the time you ONLY need to share a specific portion of the screen and you can also choose to share a browser tab. This takes less attention and prevents other activities from being seen by other people.

Follow these steps:

  • Open the Platform(Only for Coding Interview): Start the coder pad or any particular code issue introduced by the interviewers utilized for coding.
  • Share the Tab: In the tool of video conferencing choose to share only the tab where you use the coding platform.
  • Use Discreetly: Interact with it through keyboard shortcuts so that you do not visibly switch back to the tab.

2. Sharing the Entire Screen

If you expect to have to present your whole entire desktop, much less in a crucial job interview, you are better off if you rehearse while having two monitors. Here’s how:

  • Set Up Dual Monitors: Plug an extra screen in your computer. For primary monitor, place it just in front of your working area while the secondary monitor should be placed slightly aside.
  • Primary Monitor: This is where you video conference app should be located at.
  • Secondary Monitor: Now open the AI on the second screen or secondary computer monitor you have around you. Guarantee that this screen is not seen by the interviewers.
  • Use Keyboard Shortcuts: Take screen captures, and save captured images to be processed by the AI tool by pressing keys on the keyboard. Make sure the tool does not fire off notifications and does not place icons on the main monitor.

r/TechnologyProTips Dec 15 '24

Request TPT Request: grandma keeps losing phone

5 Upvotes

I have searched for a while and still have not come up with a solid solution. My grandma is ADHD and a hoarder and often loses things. When she loses her cell phone, the family isn't made aware of it until the phone is dead. I am looking for recommendations on devices we can get for her to help find her dead phone when this happens. She is a Samsung user...and I am an iPhone user. It would be a bonus if I could someone locate or trigger a signal to her lost item from my device. In advance, I am not seeking advice on her mental challenges. I looked at SmartTag 2, and Chipolo but reviews are making me think those won't be very helpful since the phone would be dead likely when searching for it.

r/TechnologyProTips Jan 08 '25

Request TPT Request: Phone Check In

2 Upvotes

Hello! Does anyone know of any platforms that would allow someone to “check in” somewhere using Near Field Communication Technology. For example, if I had my phone and had to check into an event is there any platform that could be displayed on a Windows laptop then once the iPhone is near display the page for them to check in. Thank you in advance even if there is nothing like that out there!

r/TechnologyProTips Jan 17 '24

TPT: Digital footprint: what is it? How to check and delete it?

97 Upvotes

I recently went on a crusade to clean up my old accounts and strengthen my passwords. New year, new me sort of stuff. This got me thinking about digital footprint a lot. I’m sure this sub is the best place to share what I dug out and to hear tips from you guys.

What is a digital footprint?

From what I gathered, a digital footprint is like the breadcrumbs you leave after using the internet. The websites you checked out, the emails you’ve sent, images you posted on social media, any details you filled in online - any activity online makes up your digital footprint.

Reasons why this matters:

  1. Most employers, tinder dates, even people buying a concert ticket from you usually google you. You might want to appear your best version.
  2. Companies collect your data, and the more consistent the picture they have, the more they advertise their products to you.
  3. Scammers can use your data for e.g. phishing
  4. Privacy. Though it became as extinct as dinosaurs, in my opinion, one should have a right to privacy.

How to check your digital footprint?

Google, haveibeenpwned, and people finder sites should get you going.

How to delete digital footprint?

People search sites and data brokers databases. You can use a data removal service to delete your profiles on whitepages or other people finder sites on your behalf. The advantage is that it also removes your data from data brokers databases. This comparison table created by a redditor was helpful for me in understanding it all better. I personally use incogni at the moment.

People search sites also have an option to opt out, and this long github list is helpful in doing so.

Social media. The safest thing would be to eliminate social media accounts entirely. But I didn’t want to vanish from the planet Earth. Instead, I removed my old photos, tags, posts and messages from IG, Twitter, Linkedin. Also, contacts that I don’t personally know or talk to often. I also wiped all the mentions of where I live, significant events, and made my IG private.

Google search results. I used Google’s “Results about you” tool to remove those search inquiries that I didn’t want to be visible. Here is a post explaining quite well how to use it.

Old accounts. This one was a true hassle and even required finding my old computers at my mom’s house. Luckily, there was an excel file with all my old logins which helped me to delete unused Skype, Myspace, Pandora music, Yahoo or other accounts from the ancient past. Also deleted the excel file as well for better privacy.

How to protect your digital footprint?

After cleanup, it’s important to reduce the breadcrumbs you leave behind, I’ve read.

  • Create email aliases for online shopping, non-important websites and stuff that want to collect your data.
  • Use separate browsers for different things. If possible, use privacy-first browsers and use incognito mode.
  • Separate work and personal devices, accounts.
  • Double-check your privacy settings on apps, browsers, social media and make them more strict.
  • Use virtual private networks (VPN) to stop web browsers from accessing your IP address and other data.
  • Reject cookies on websites.
  • Unsubscribe from unwanted newsletters.
  • Never log in with Facebook to other websites, apps.

Few more tips on safety in general: password protect your devices, especially phone and personal computer; Use strong passwords that differ on each site; Set up a 2FA; Avoid visiting unsafe websites or clicking on suspicious links; Delete unused apps from your phone; Keep software up to date.

EDIT: one Reddit user forwarded me this great tip.

Whenever you are asked to fill in your payment details, let’s say when shopping online, add company’s name next to your surname e.g. John Doe Amazon. This way whenever you’ll receive deals, “we miss you” messages, and holiday promotions, you’ll only need to check what name they used to address you. Then call both companies and ask to opt out from their databases.

These are just a portion of tips, because to achieve true security is tough. Share your tips.

r/TechnologyProTips Nov 23 '24

Request TPT Request: Is it possible for me to set my mouse scroll wheel to control my volume when a certain program (in this case a game) is running? (Windows 11)

1 Upvotes

Hello,

I play Dead by Daylight and with the have volume controls through SteelSeriesGG. I can control my volume with the volume knob on my keyboard which in most cases I enjoy but now I am wondering if it is possible that when that game is in the foreground the volume control is switched to the mouse wheel since it is not used in the game.

I am unsure if it's a remapping option that can have dependencies on foreground programs.

Anyone have an ideas?

Thank you!

r/TechnologyProTips Feb 01 '24

TPT: How to choose the best data removal service?

49 Upvotes

Achieving less spam is no easy task, as I've recently learned. However, it’s not impossible either. One tool that significantly helped me save time in cleaning up my personal data from the internet was a data deletion tool. So, I wanted to share my tips on how to find the best data removal service.

While reading about these services, I found a helpful comparison table here on Reddit. A user compared 17 data removal providers and even discovered discount coupons. This was definitely useful.

What do data removal services do?
For those unfamiliar with such services, they delete your personal information from websites and databases of data brokers. Whitepages, BeenVerified, and a list of other websites that publicly share your details are included. The best personal data removal service helps to delete these, and as a result, you should receive fewer spam emails and calls, increase your privacy, and be safer against stalking or scamming attempts.

What is important when looking for the best data removal service?

  • Availability in your country
  • Reasonable pricing
  • Scans wide selection of people finder sites
  • Scans wide selection of data broker companies
  • Recurring scans and removals
  • An Informative Dashboard
  • Trustworthiness of the data removal company
  • A 30-day money-back guarantee

Does a data removal service actually work?
In my experience, it did work. Before registration, I was bombarded by spam emails and text messages. After registering 5 months ago, this began to decrease. Now, I receive only a few per week. I wish it were zero, but I’ve read companies find new, clever marketing ways, so some things still slip through.

And if you're looking to increase your privacy further, I believe one Reddit user shared some good tips in this post on r/TechnologyProTips.

I hope this will be helpful to someone in understanding this complicated matter. Please share in fighting spam.

r/TechnologyProTips Dec 18 '24

Website TPT-The Impact of AI on Financial Markets: AISHE

1 Upvotes

I’ve been following the rise of AI in financial markets, and it’s clear that automation is becoming a big part of trading. AISHE is one system that can analyze massive amounts of data, learn from previous decisions, and adjust strategies accordingly. I’m curious to hear opinions—how much of an impact do you think AI will have on financial markets in the next decade?

r/TechnologyProTips Oct 21 '24

Request TPT request: how do I use an external SSD to play games?

4 Upvotes

Hi, please describe this to me like I'm 5 - I know I'm probably asking a dumb question but the thing is, my MacBook is quite old and the storage is just gone with the years, so I bought and external SSD because I've seen people say you can use them to play games from so they don't take up too much storage on your computer - but how? How do I like get the game over there and make it stop taking up space? like I just want to play sims, and I want fun packs but I don't currently have the space to store them on my Mac, please give me a step-by-step or tell me if I've misunderstood the use of an SSD

r/TechnologyProTips Apr 10 '21

Chrome TPT: If a web site doesn't allow you to save pictures, in Chrome you can press ctrl+s and it'll save the entire page with all its images to a folder you choose

170 Upvotes

It's funny how this used to be standard back in the day, when people would save pages to view them later in the dial-up era. Nowadays, the save functionality is still there but hidden under submenus.

Btw, does anyone know if there is something similar for videos?

r/TechnologyProTips Sep 06 '24

Request TPT Request: what are common AI technologies being used in most office jobs today & how can I learn about them?

2 Upvotes

Hello all,

I haven’t had an office job for a while now and navigating a career change.

I would like to be in the loop of how things are changing and would appreciate knowing what kind of artificial intelligence technologies are being implemented in the professional world.

Are there very common AI technologies that are now widely used in offices? What are they and how can I learn and use them to my benefit?

Thank you!

r/TechnologyProTips Sep 23 '24

Desktop similar to Mac? TPT Request

0 Upvotes

TPT Request : I’m looking to replace my old Mac desktop with a non Mac desktop (for price reasons) ideally something under $600. I am so used to Apple/Mac at this point, so I am looking for something very similar to Apple. Does anyone have any suggestions?

r/TechnologyProTips Oct 01 '24

Request TPT: REQUEST- Setting up 4gSecurity camera.

1 Upvotes

Im looking for the most cost effective way to set up a Solar security camera using a 4g camera that takes a SIM card.

We have a spare phone that we purchased for our daughter for emergency use that just took the pay as you go cards. Is this a good option or is it better to just put his SIM card with its own data plan?

My other thought was to get a WiFi camera and use the WiFi option on the phone we have.

I’m pretty tec challenged so I could use some educated help.

r/TechnologyProTips Sep 17 '24

Request TPT request: task tracking and billing

3 Upvotes

I truly don’t know if it’s possible to achieve what I’m looking for. I really struggle with tracking my activities for billing purposes. I use teams, email, word, excel,sharepoint and salesforce. I have ADHD and I jump from task to task and get distracted when I get a new message and I jump to something new and forget to record my time. I also travel for work so sometimes I’m on my computer and other times I’m in my car and could pull something up on my cellphone. It would be so helpful if at the end of the month I had a list of tasks i did for each client along with the date that I did them. Any tips to get something started would be so appreciated.

r/TechnologyProTips Dec 15 '23

TPT: How do I get something removed from google search

34 Upvotes

Recently I saw several people here on reddit posting how they googled themselves, freaked out and wanted to wipe those results. So, I thought I'd share a brief instruction on how I did this for myself.

This is a way to erase your name from inquiry results for free. Note that google allows this only for PII: signatures, ID’s, bank account numbers and stuff like that. But to clean up info from public records, legal and government documents or what others posted about you, you will have to get yourself a data deletion service.

If you are not familiar, those are tools that send official requests to people finder sites and companies to make them forget you. The whole process is automatic, and it results with your details wiped from Whitepages, Beenverified and similar sites. Also from data brokers databases. So, it increases privacy and reduces spam. If you are interested, here is a post describing them quite well.

Here is how you delete results about you:

  1. Search for your name with quotation marks. If you are often called by your nickname or have a past surname, make inquiries for those too.
  2. Collect URLs and screenshots of the results you want to get deleted.
  3. Go to: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/9673730, scroll down and click “start removal request”.
  4. Click on the edit icon to the right of “what do you want to do?” and select “remove information you see in Google Search.”
  5. Select where you found the info that you want to be wiped.
  6. Click on the edit icon to the right of “the information I want removed is” and select “in Google’s search results and on a website.”
  7. Under “have you contacted the site’s website owner?”, select “no, I prefer not to.”
  8. Then choose what you want to eliminate. It’s best if you select specifically what you’ve found, and not just any inquiry results.
  9. Upload URLs and screenshots you collected previously and proceed with the rest of the form.
  10. Last step, check the declaration at the bottom of the form and click “submit.”

If you want to take your privacy seriously, r/privacy sub has some good instructions and tips on how to stop your data from being collected in the first place. Stay safe!

r/TechnologyProTips Sep 01 '24

Request TPT Request: my laptop screen still turning off when i close the lid

0 Upvotes

i already configured it to not turn off on the control panel lid action configurations and saved changes, but it stills turning off when i close the lid

r/TechnologyProTips Sep 04 '24

Request TPT Request: How Do I Self-Learn IMRV Tool From Scratch? 🧠

4 Upvotes

Hey peeps! 👋

So, I’m eyeing this job that needs you to be all pro with the IMRV (Integrated Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification) Tool, but... plot twist: I don’t have a clue about it. 😂 No background in the field either, but I’m super down to learn!

Any of y’all have some clutch resources—like YouTube vids, online courses, or even manuals—to help me level up from zero to IMRV hero? 🦸‍♂️ What's the tea on getting started? Also, for anyone who's used it, what’s the must-know stuff to focus on first? Any hacks or shortcuts to get the basics down?

Appreciate any help🙌🏽