Your Data Is Not a Product Here
Practical steps to reclaim your online privacy. No tech degree required.
Six high-impact privacy actions
Each one takes under thirty minutes. Together, they shut down most of the ways your data leaks today.
Turn on 2FA on your email
Your email is the master key to every account you own. Two-factor authentication makes it nearly impossible for someone to break in even if they steal your password.
Use a password manager
Stop reusing the same three passwords everywhere. A password manager remembers a unique, strong password for every site — and saves hours of resets later.
Freeze your credit at all 3 bureaus
A credit freeze blocks new accounts from being opened in your name. Free at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The single most powerful anti-identity-theft step.
Opt out of top data brokers
Sites like Whitepages, Spokeo, and BeenVerified publish your address, phone number, and family for anyone to see. You can request removal from each.
See the removal guideSwitch to Signal or iMessage for sensitive chats
SMS texts are not encrypted — your carrier and anyone with the right tools can read them. Signal and iMessage scramble your messages so only the recipient can read them.
Review app permissions on your phone
Most apps ask for far more than they need — location, contacts, microphone. Pull back permissions for any app that does not absolutely need them.
Who actually wants your data — and why
You cannot protect yourself from threats you do not understand. Here is what is collecting on you, in plain English.
Data brokers
Companies that buy and sell your personal information — name, address, phone, family, income, shopping history. You never gave them permission directly, but they have you anyway, often pulled from public records and other sites you used.
Ad networks
Hidden trackers embedded on most websites that follow you across the internet. They build a profile of what you read, buy, and search, and sell it to advertisers. This is why an ad for shoes follows you for a week after one click.
Social media platforms
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X are free because you are the product. Every like, scroll, and pause is logged. The data is then sold or used to keep you scrolling longer.
Government surveillance
In the US, agencies can request data from phone and internet providers, often without a warrant. Knowing what is collected — call records, location data, search history — helps you make informed choices about what to put online.
Hackers and breaches
Companies get breached almost every week — Yahoo, Equifax, T-Mobile, Marriott. When they do, your email, password, address, and sometimes Social Security Number end up for sale. Strong unique passwords and 2FA limit the damage.
The exact menus to open right now
Pick your device or service. Each tab walks you through the settings that matter most.
Apple has the most built-in privacy tools of any phone maker. Most are off by default — turn them on.
App Tracking Transparency
Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking. Turn off "Allow Apps to Request to Track" so apps cannot follow you across other apps and websites.
Mail Privacy Protection
Settings → Mail → Privacy Protection. Hides your IP address and prevents senders from seeing if and when you opened their email.
Hide My Email
Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Hide My Email (requires iCloud+). Generates a unique throwaway email for any site so your real address stays private.
Advanced Data Protection
Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Advanced Data Protection. End-to-end encrypts almost everything in iCloud — even Apple cannot read it.
Privacy-respecting apps we actually recommend
Free or low-cost tools that put you back in control. None of these are paying us — they are just the best in their category.
Bitwarden
Password manager
Open-source password manager. Free tier covers everything most people need across phone, computer, and browser. Premium is $10/year.
Visit siteSignal
Messaging
End-to-end encrypted messaging and calls. Free, no ads, run by a non-profit. The most privacy-respecting chat app in everyday use.
Visit siteFirefox
Browser
Mozilla browser with strong tracker blocking turned on by default. Run by a non-profit, with no ad business of its own to protect.
Visit siteBrave Browser
Browser
Built on the same engine as Chrome but blocks ads and trackers out of the box. Built-in Tor window for extra-private browsing.
Visit siteDuckDuckGo
Search engine
Search engine that does not log your queries or build a profile on you. Same useful results as Google for most everyday searches.
Visit siteProtonMail
End-to-end encrypted email from a Swiss company. Free tier gives you 1 GB. Paid plans add a calendar, VPN, and cloud storage.
Visit siteHave I Been Pwned
Breach checker
Type in your email to see every known data breach it has appeared in. Sign up for alerts so you know the moment you are exposed.
Visit siteFurther reading
Trusted, free resources to go deeper at your own pace.
FTC Consumer Privacy
Federal Trade Commission guides on online privacy, kids online, and stopping unwanted calls.
VisitElectronic Frontier Foundation
Non-profit defending digital rights. Their "Surveillance Self-Defense" guide is the gold standard.
VisitPrivacyGuides.org
Community-maintained list of privacy-respecting tools and services for every category.
Visit