How to shrink your digital footprint

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Adjust your daily routines to leave as little data about yourself online as possible.
 
In today’s world, having an online presence is practically unavoidable. More and more of our daily lives happen online, and unless you’re a sailor out at sea or a forest ranger, living completely offline is a rare luxury. It’s estimated that each of us generates roughly two to three gigabytes of data every hour through our smartphones, IoT devices, and online services. So, it’s no wonder that, for example, around 70% of Americans are concerned about the government collecting their data, and a staggering ~80% worry about corporations doing the same. Today, we explore where and how our everyday actions leave digital trails, and what we can do about it.

Your morning routine: how your smartphone and browser track you

You wake up, check the weather, maybe scroll through some reels, like a few posts, and check your commute to see the possible traffic jams. When it comes to social media privacy settings, it’s pretty straightforward: you tweak them so your parents and colleagues don’t get a heart attack from your edgy humor. Our Privacy Checker website can help with that. But it gets trickier with geolocation data, which seemingly everyone wants to collect. We’ve already dived deep into how smartphones build detailed profiles on you, and explained what geolocation data brokers are and what happens when their data leaks.

Just imagine: about half of popular Android apps ask for your geolocation even though they don’t need it. And by default, Chrome and Safari allow cross-domain cookie tracking. This lets advertising networks build detailed user profiles for personalized ads. Pretty much all of your smartphone’s telemetry is used to create a thorough consumer portrait — no need for customer interviews or focus groups. The best marketer is in your pocket, but it’s not working for you. What should you do?

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