Leaving behind something that worked for awhile to pursue something different takes courage. It isn’t quitting. It is a pivot to something more beneficial.
I have been an active user of the internet since 1995 and have left massive breadcrumbs to trace back to me this entire time. But what if I wanted to start over? How would I go about doing that?
If I decide to had to do it all over again, I’d absolutely be more self-restrictive and private. Can we make use of the online world and remain a casual observer? No idea, but I’m taking a few steps to do just that. I purchased a new web domain and email address that does not have my name attached to it. Nice and generic. I switched my Apple ID to this new email address as phase one. After that, and over time, I will slowly start redirecting all of my online transactions to this new address.
But it doesn’t stop there. With the help of Apple’s Cloud+ services, I am even more private and secure. I already use “Hide My Email”, a tool that generates a generic email address that can be stopped/started at any time I choose. So if I am forced to sign up for something, they don’t see my personal email address. They see the generic one that gets routed to my personal. Example:
Fake email is generated, now I can use Apple’s Password generator tool. Not only does it create a multi 256-bit miltary encrypted password, it will remember and auto-fill for me everytime I log in.
I just started my fifth decade recently and realized I may have more years behind me than ahead of me. Do I need or want to continue to maintain a public presence? I am leaning toward no. Is this an identity or maybe mid-life crisis? Nah.
I don’t need or seek approval from anyone online. I also don’t feel a need to share with anyone online. I’ll journal my thoughts onto my private database and store my photography inside the gallery on my SSD.