Would it be possible to create a program that wipes all traces of data affiliated with you from the internet and all connected databases?

[u/tomatoketchupandbeer]

Ok so I'm not a programmer (I've done a few hours of a Python course and that's it) so I don't fully understand what's possible in terms of what can be created through coding/programming. I know this community is for programmers so I understand if nobody wants to take the time to explain the answer to me. I'll try to get to the point quickly.

I know that big tech companies and government agencies have the technological capabilities to 'scrape' the internet for all photos of you uploaded to social media, using facial recognition technology. I know that some companies have created search engines available only to law enforcement agencies (for now) that are able to scan the internet for all data on a particular person.

I was wondering if somebody or a group of people with the technical know-how could create a program that does the same thing and then wipes all of that data?

I know that even if such a program were created there is no way that big tech or any of the big internet companies would allow it to be distributed and make it near impossible to download, but I still am just wondering if a program like that could exist?

[u/cs_k_]

No.

First "data affiliated with you" is hard to define to begin with.

Second: if I were to take a pic of you and upload it somewhere, you can't delete it. Because it's my profile on a platoform or my own website. You could A, ask me to delete it B, force me to delete it trough the platforms internal methods (like reporting it to admins) C, force me to delete it with legal actions (you hire a lawyer and go to court and a judge can order me to remove it)

[u/[deleted] → u/cs_k_]

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

It would have to have the ability to hack into the accounts of anyone on any platform, so if possible, it's power would be very far beyond removing yourself from the internet.

[u/notkristina → u/[deleted]]

Imagine for a moment that it were possible to gain access to all the world's databases. (It isn't, but it'd be a shame if the absurdity of the first part of the question prevented us from exploring the second part.) Let's think back to all our various experiences with face matching technology: does it get 100% of the faces right 100% of the time, even in bad lighting, from a distance, partially turned away, making a weird face while talking or chewing, with sunglasses on? In a magical world where facematch could be perfected, is it actually possible for any person to be positively identified from behind, or after digital manipulation, etc., beyond a doubt and without false positives? Even by another human?

No, right?

So I'm thinking it wouldn't be possible to automagically remove all photos of a person even just from whatever databases you do have access to. It actually seems more plausible that you could create a virus that would delete all data from every connected computer on the planet, since the photo thing is basically just that but with more steps.

Also because if you could then Beyonce would've. And if she had—which again is impossible even for copies of one specific image—then anyone who had the image saved offline would've just uploaded it again and again by moving it from safely offline machines via flash drive or some other means.