I have a very interesting addiction?

[Anonymous]

I don’t know why, but I have this awful addiction—I’m terrified and hesitant about even the tiniest bit of my data showing up online. Every single day, I check and clear my phone’s storage, cache, app permissions, whether there’s anything saved in my search engine, where my email and phone number are registered, if there’s an account opened in my name, and whether my social media accounts’ privacy settings (phone, email) are visible. I spend half an hour every day obsessively checking and rechecking all this. Sometimes I think, “I wish I were like a plant or an animal, with no trace of data, information, or records tied to me.” I feel like I’m chained up. If I start a family in the future, I want a completely clean slate—no record of anything I’ve written or anywhere I’ve been online. I want my mind to be at peace, like a blank USB drive. I wish I had nothing—no online data, no government records, not even my ID—so I wouldn’t be easily accessible or traceable. This has become a full-blown addiction. I even used a disposable email to log into this site. I check my YouTube comment and like history ten times a day. What should I do? Is it because I spend too much time online? I have no clue!

[meepmeeperton]

I agree with other comments that it's a compulsive thing. You'd probably need specialized therapy to recover.

That aside, clearing your data in the way that you're doing it is exactly removing traceability. If you ever use a cell phone to make calls, the cell towers can be subpoenaed by law enforcement and the general location you made the call can be tracked. There's tons of little stuff like that which *could* be done but no one would ever devote the resources to that unless you were a high profile criminal. If you're a regular guy it doesn't really matter if tiny bits of info are out there, no one is looking.

[meepmeeperton]

I meant isn't* exactly removing traceability

[Anonymous]

That sounds less like an addiction, and more like either paranoia or a compulsion, like OCD.

I don't think there's a lot anyone here can do to help you, because those are both legitimate psychiatric concerns. My advice, completely non-judgmentally, would be to seek out some form of therapy.

[Osborne775]

ever tried using stuff like vpn, tails os, Tor,?

[Chazmatazz269]

That’s a compulsion, not an addiction.

[beefcakebradybatson]

I'm addicted to big boobs !!!