The super rich are paying big bucks to ‘disappear’ from the internet. Here are some ways you can do it for dirt cheap.
For a variety of reasons—perhaps overly-zealous fans, paparazzi, or merely prepping for the zombie apocalypse—the super rich are taking themselves off the internet grid in ways that most of us cannot afford.
You only see what they want you to see…
Try to look for Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and Jennifer Lopez’s homes on google and you won’t find them. They live in a 648-home community called Hidden Hills, California. It gets its name for an obvious reason: It is “hidden.”
The same is true with others in the ‘rich and powerful’ class.
Although they do not all live in the same community, they do live in communities, according to the Financial Times that forbid google’s vehicles. No google, no street map.
…[S]ome of the world’s most privileged people are choosing to hide from the public eye to protect their homes from burglars and other forms of unwelcome attention…
Author and futurist Geoff Manaugh, whose book A Burglar’s Guide To The City documents these attempts to take entire communities out of the public gaze, calls it an “urban-scale non-disclosure agreement”.
The occupants of such areas “do not want to be discussed” and operate on the basis that “out of sight [means] out of mind — and out of the reach of burglars,” he writes.
To be clear: these options are not a true stealth strategy, hiding you from the tax authorities or security services. But they are a way of avoiding more casual unwanted attention, from nosy neighbours to the paparazzi.
While some of the rich and powerful are going so far as to hiring architects to conceal whole buildings [talk about a bunker mentality], others are even becoming completely self-sufficient, generating their own power.
The Three Rivers Recreation Area in Oregon is one example. With about 80 permanent residents and more than 4,000 acres in total, the area includes a marina, private airstrip, desert golf course and hiking trails.
Going off the grid for the average Joe…
Living in a self-sufficient hidden community may be a luxury most of us cannot afford.
However, there are ways that individual can lower their visibility to the rest of the world on the internet.
Cnet.com lists five ways to delete yourself from the internet. Here they are (in brief):
- Delete or deactivate your shopping, social network, and Web service accounts
- Remove yourself from data collection sites
- Remove your info directly from websites
- Delete search engine results that return information about you
- And finally, the last step you’ll want to take is to remove your email accounts
While some of this may sound impossible in today’s world, CNet provides the DIY way to accomplish it.
Read about two people who live completely off the grid and how they do it.
Other worthwhile reading:
- 21 Tips For Quitting Your Job, Going Off Grid and Living The Dream
- 4 Ways to Stay off the Government’s Grid – wikiHow
- How to Wipe Yourself Off the Grid – The Prepper Journal
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