1---
2title: Removing your site from the Wayback Machine (Keybase)
3subtitle: A quick and easy guide
4author: Amolith
5description: Quick guide on removing and excluding your content from Archive.org's Wayback Machine with Keybase
6cover: /assets/pngs/archive.png
7date: 2019-06-03T12:08:00-0400
8draft: false
9categories:
10 - Technology
11tags:
12 - Archive.org
13 - Privacy
14 - Sysadmin
15toc: true
16---
17
18## Preface
19There may be a myriad of reasons you want to do this, from removing
20sensitive information to regaining a measure of control over your
21content. Whatever your purpose, below should be a quick and easy way to
22achieve it.
23
24## For domains you own
25The easiest way to verify you own a domain is to put a text file in an
26easily accessible location and email
27[info@archive.org](mailto:info@archive.org) asking for removal and link
28to it. Mine is at
29[removal-request.txt.](https://nixnet.services/removal-request.txt) It
30would be better if you didn't copy mine word-for-word and wrote your own
31instead though :wink:
32
33If that's all you intend to do, this should be sufficient and there's no
34need to read any further. If you want to exclude your *profiles* as well
35(for example, all your GitHub repos, Twitter, Mastodon, etc.) read on.
36
37## For domains you *don't* own
38There are a few things I used that worked in harmony to verify my other
39accounts. [Keybase](https://keybase.io/) was the most useful for this
40purpose. It is a proprietary service but I deem the level of proof it
41facilitates worth compromising for.
42
43The other tool I used was [GPG.](https://gnupg.org/) For the sake of
44keeping it simple, *this* guide will just deal with GPG from within
45Keybase. I ***really*** recommend actually learning to use GPG on its
46own; it's wonderful for protecting your privacy and verifying your
47identity in a multitude of situations. The next post will be on using
48GPG *outside* of Keybase for this so [stay tuned.](/posts/index.xml)
49
50### Generating your key
51After creating your Keybase account, click "add a PGP key", "I need a
52public key", then enter the requisite information. You should use
53whatever name is associated with the account you'll be emailing
54Archive.org from as well as that address. Wait a bit while it generates
55the key...
56
57### Verifying some accounts
58This is where you verify whatever accounts you want removed. Just click
59the option and go through the steps! Aside from personal websites,
60Twitter, GitHub, Reddit, etc., you can also prove accounts on a lot of
61other services (including Mastodon). More are being added every day so
62check back if there's something specific you want to address.
63
64Once this is done, you'll be ready to contact Archive.org about getting
65your stuff removed.
66
67### Signing some messages
68In the top right of Keybase, you'll see a pencil. Click it and you'll be
69taken to a page with a text box. This is where you'll type your email
70and the text file for your website proof. For the text file, copy the
71signed message and paste it into your text editor, save, and put it at
72the root of your website. For example, mine is at
73[removal-request.txt.](https://nixnet.services/removal-request.txt) It
74would be better if you didn't copy mine word for word and wrote your own
75:wink: For the email, you'll do the same thing but paste the signed message
76into your email client, whether that's Thunderbird, ProtonMail,
77Tutanota, etc. The text file only needs to contain the request for the
78(sub)domain removal. The email needs to contain the request for
79everything along with links to the text file, you Keybase account, and
80whatever you want removed.
81
82Before sending it, you should also go back to your profile, click your
83key, and copy everything in the text box that starts with `-----BEGIN
84PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----`. Paste that into another text file but save
85it with the `.asc` extension. For example, `key.asc`. Attach this to the
86email, send it to [info@archive.org,](mailto:info@archive.org) wait a
87couple days, and you're done!