Everyday Shield

I used to think closing old online accounts was just digital tidying. Then I got a password breach notification from an app I hadn’t used in seven years. That’s when it hit me—my forgotten logins weren’t harmless clutter. They were liabilities. So I ran a simple experiment: what would happen if I tried deleting or deactivating one old account per day for a week? No skipping. No shortcuts. Just logging in, reviewing what was still there, and hitting delete. By Day 4, I found an account still storing my home address from 2015. By Day 7, I had revoked access to six third-party apps I didn't even know were tracking me. Here’s how the week went—and why you might want to try it too. Table of Contents Why I Did This 7-Day Deletion Challenge Day-by-Day Breakdown The Most Surprising Finds Checklist: How to Start Your Own Cleanup Why I Did This 7-Day Deletion Challenge It started with a leak I didn’t know about—on a site I hadn’t visited in yea...

Two weeks ago, I used a public computer at a co-working space in Austin. I logged into my Gmail, printed a few PDFs, and quickly logged out. That should’ve been the end of it—except it wasn’t. The next day, I received an email from Google alerting me to a suspicious login attempt from the same IP address. That’s when it hit me: I didn’t actually protect my data—I just logged out and assumed it was enough. If you’ve ever used a library kiosk, hotel lobby desktop, or airport check-in station, this post is for you. Logging out is only part of the process. Here’s what you should really be doing to keep your accounts and data safe. Table of Contents Clear all browser data Check for background logins Log out of cloud-connected apps Disable auto-fill and sync Use remote logout tools if available Clear all browser data Simply closing the browser isn’t enough—clear everything manually. Before stepping away from a public computer, go into th...