Data Privacy Strategy

No one is perfect. Just do what you feel is appropriate for you.

Five main identifiers used to define you

1. Email address
2. Phone number
3. Debit card
4. Browser
5. Your device (smartphone, laptop)

Main Strategies

1. Reduce data collection at the source

• Use a privacy-respecting browser
  • Brave, Firefox with strict tracking protection on,
  • Install tracker/ad blockers (uBlock Origin) — blocks pixels, most ad-tech, and many fingerprinting scripts
  • Disable third-party cookies; regularly clear cookies/local storage
• Turn off ad personalization in Google, Meta, Apple account settings
• Deny app permissions by default (location, contacts, mic) and grant only when actively needed, not "always"
• Audit your smartphone privacy settings
• Use email image-blocking or a client that proxies images (Apple Mail Privacy Protection, Gmail's proxy) to defeat pixel tracking
• Opt out of data collection settings buried in smart TVs, IoT devices, and car infotainment systems (these are major, under-discussed collectors)
• Choose "dumb" devices over "smart" ones. No one needs a refrigerator that connects to the Internet.

2. Break linkability (stop data brokers from "identity stitching")

• Use unique email aliases per service (SimpleLogin, Firefox Relay, Apple Hide My Email) so a breach or resale doesn't tie back to one address (see Email Privacy)
• Use a password manager with unique logins - Reused credentials are a linkage vector
• Pay with virtual/masked card numbers (Privacy.com, bank-issued virtual cards) to avoid one card number tying purchases together
• Use a VPN to decouple browsing from your home IP (note: shifts trust to the VPN provider — worth a nuance point in the workshop)
• Avoid "Sign in with Google/Facebook" - it links account activity across unrelated services
• Use separate browser profiles or containers (Firefox Multi-Account Containers) to compartmentalize shopping vs. social vs. banking

3. Remove/limit existing exposure

• Submit opt-out/deletion requests to data brokers (or use a service like Optery, DeleteMe, or Consumer Reports' Permission Slip that automates this. California residents, use DROP service to automate this.
• Exercise legal rights where available: GDPR "right to erasure" (EU), CCPA "right to delete" (California)
• Freeze credit reports at all three bureaus to blunt identity-theft use of leaked data
• Google yourself periodically and request removal of sensitive results (Google has a form for this)
• Check "Have I Been Pwned" and rotate passwords/security questions on flagged accounts

4. Reduce the "surface area" you expose

• Minimize what you share on social media (birthdate, location tags, employer): these feed both direct profiling and social-engineering/security-question guessing
• Use Virtual phone numbers (Google Voice, MySudo) for signups that demand a number
• Decline loyalty programs/surveys that trade discounts for detailed personal data, or use a minimal/generic identity for them
• Review and prune app permissions and connected third-party apps (OAuth grants) periodically — these often persist long after you stop using a service - see

5. Behavioral/operational habits

• Read privacy policies for data sharing/selling clauses specifically (skip to that section rather than the whole doc). See Mozilla's Nothing Personal for product reviews that focus on respect for privacy
• Use "does this need to know that?" as a gut check before filling out forms
• Segment your identity: a "public" persona for social/professional life vs. a more guarded one for everything else

Check out orgs like...

• Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
• World Privacy Forum
• The Center for Democracy and Technology
• Nothing Personal and ToSDR are both sites designed to rate/review common products based on how they handle their customers' privacy