---
title: "What strategies do YOU use to protect your online identity?"
description: "A new survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet Project finds that 86% of internet users have taken steps online to remove or mask their digital footprints. We ask readers to share their own strategies and experiences."
date: "2013-09-05"
authors:
  - name: "Bruce Drake"
    job_title: "Former Senior Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/bruce-drake/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/09/05/what-strategies-do-you-use-to-protect-your-online-identity/"
categories:
  - "Online Privacy & Security"
  - "Platforms & Services"
  - "Privacy Rights"
  - "Social Media"
---

# What strategies do YOU use to protect your online identity?

[![FT_Cover_tracks](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2013/09/FT_Cover_tracks.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2013/09/FT_Cover_tracks.png)

At a time when much attention has been focused on how much individuals can protect their privacy in a wired world, a new survey by the Pew Research Center's Internet Project finds that 86% of internet users have taken steps online to remove or mask their digital footprints. More than half (55%) of internet users say they took the steps to avoid observation by specific people, organizations or the government. But despite such efforts, 59% of internet users don't believe it's possible to achieve complete anonymity on line. [Read the full report](http://pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/internet/Reports/2013/Anonymity-online/Summary-of-Findings/Anonymity-online.aspx).

From deleting cookies from browsers to using temporary e-mail names, internet users have tried a variety of strategies to protect their privacy.

What have *you* done? What steps do you think are most effective, and which have you found to be of little use? Tell us your experiences, using our comments section.