How to erase your ex from your life online

How would you like to erase an ex like they were never a part of your life online, at least? Several online tools can give you a hand in deleting your ex's digital presence from your life.

The CBC'sConrad Collacospoke with technology columnistJesse Hirshabout anew function that Google providesand a few other options. Listen to the full interview by clicking the imageat the topof this page. You can also read a summary of the interview below.

What is this Google app supposed to do?

It's really about hiding someone who makes you upset from your digital photo collection. It acknowledges the way in which digital photography is proliferated. Some people document every moment of their lives with digital photos. Our digital photo collections have become a kind of surrogate memory.We turn to our photos to remember what things we were doing a month ago or a year ago and who we were doing them with. It doesn't edit them out of the photos, though I do anticipate that feature coming.It makes the photos that feature that individual no longer visible.

It's a way of telling Google,"I don't want to see this person anymore. Please don't show me the photos I took of them."

What if you want to unblock your ex? Can you do that?

Yes. But would you remember to if they were out of sight, out of mind? If the first breakup doesn't always hold, maybe it will if you make them disappear. If you no longer remember them, it changes the dynamics of breakups if you are able to move on in such a technically clean way.

What else could a person do online if they wanted to wipe out any memory of an ex?

It's a growing feature set. That speaks either to a desire that people have, or as you pointed out, maybe there are developers who have been dumped rather badly. One of the more comprehensive solutions is blockyourex.com.It's a browser plugin that works as a kind of filter where you can enter someone's Twitter name, their Facebook account, their real name ... and then as you search the web your browser will block any mention of that person. You have no reminder of that individual. It's a comprehensive way to use your browser to hide your ex.

Another service is called killswitchapp.com. It targets Facebook and allows you to put in an ex-Facebook friend and untag any of the photos you have had with them. It will delete any of your status updates that refer to that person. It removes anything from your profile that marks the two of you had a relationship. All these tools let you rewrite your digital past.