Privacy: The Main Goals
Starting a privacy journey can feel overwhelming at first. There are endless lists of tools and tasks, which can make it seem like a full-time job. This is especially true if you don't grasp the big-picture goals. To help, let's outline the key goals of privacy, drawing from the definition in a recent post The War on Privacy.
What Is Privacy?
Musician and tech enthusiast Benn Jordan sums it up well: Privacy is a form of power that increases your control over your own destiny. More formally, it gives people the right to choose who sees their information, for what purpose, and under what conditions, while shielding that data from unwanted intrusion or surveillance. In essence, your life is yours: you decide what to share and what to keep private.
In today's digital world, privacy acts as a vital shield against constant data gathering and the turning of our personal lives into commodities. Even if you think you have nothing to hide, you likely don't want a full profile of yourself built for marketers, governments, or hackers. With news of data breaches popping up every day, safeguarding your info is a must, not a maybe. It's basic self-preservation.
Goal No. 1: Reduce Data Collection
By now, most people know we live in a surveillance economy: nearly everything we do gets recorded and added to an ever-growing profile. Every click on a link, every email or text sent or received, every comment posted, every photo shared, every purchase made, basically all of it gets collected, analyzed, and slotted into a dossier about you. This profile can get used by marketers or governments for any purpose, or even to train AI. The same goes for our actions in the real world.
Online
This is your starting point for reclaiming control. The aim is to block or limit the data flow, and a great first move is switching to a privacy-focused browser like Brave that cuts down on what's gathered. You can go further by using privacy-respecting email like Proton or Tuta. Unlike free services, these don't mine your data for ads.
Next, shift to secure messaging apps like Signal that provide end-to-end encrypted chats, so you and your contact can talk privately while others stay out. SMS isn't private as security was never part of its design. And social media messengers aren't private at all. Even with encryption claims, they grab tons of metadata that reveals a lot.
Don't overlook the photos you upload, which pack in details about your life, like locations, habits, and connections. A tool like Ente Photos keeps your memories yours or shared only as you choose.
Think twice about what you post online. People often share too much personal info. Beyond that, posts can lead to real trouble, like arrests for content authorities dislike, as shown in the Daily Mail article Britain's police state unmasked: Map reveals shocking numbers clapped in handcuffs over 'offensive' social media posts.
This also means being cautious with tools like AI. It can be amazing, but it collects heaps of data. Routledge has a useful paper, AI and Its Implications for Data Privacy, that explains what's gathered and how it's used. Better options include privacy-first AIs like Proton's Lumo or Brave's Leo, or running your own model at home with Ollama.
Picking privacy-preserving tools that fit your needs and watching what you share can slash the data collected online.
Offline
Data collection isn't limited to the internet. It happens in every real-world interaction, and we often give it away freely. Take loyalty programs: our advice is to skip loyalty programs entirely. They build profiles on your buys, spending, and even track you in the store. If a deal is irresistible, use synthetic information to keep your real details separate.
Another tactic: pay with cash over cards. Electronic payments share data with many parties. It's handy for you, but a goldmine for them.
Goal No. 2: Control Your Information
This goal breaks into two parts:
- Lock down your info so only you control it.
- Wipe out as much existing data as you can, from old accounts to data brokers.
For U.S. folks, our guide to putting your personal information on ice helps ensure you decide when and how key info, like government or financial details, gets used. Skipping this lets hackers use information from data breaches take over your accounts.
Then, start purging your data. Opt out of collection on new and current accounts. But there are countless people-search sites and big data brokers you've never heard of. Our post A Guide to Erasing Yourself from Data Brokers lays out a six-step plan: delete old accounts, remove your information from people-search sites, and tackle the major brokers that feed big companies.
Goal No. 3: Improve Your Security Posture
Big data breaches barely make headlines anymore. After the massive National Public Data leak exposed billions of records with names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and more, exposures keep coming.
This is the stuff used for account access or recovery - and not by you. The first two goals boost your security, but add these steps: Use a Passkey or strong and unique password on every site. Credential stuffing, where stolen logins from one site get tested elsewhere, is rampant because people reuse their IDs and passwords, leading to takeovers. Turn on multi-factor authentication where you can, with a solid app. We detail this in our post.
Again, synthetic information on accounts minimizes risk in breaches. At minimum, use unique email aliases, strong unique passwords or passkeys, and alias phone numbers (if allowed) to isolate accounts. Hackers keep innovating, so compartmentalize your accounts as much as possible.
Wrap Up
With these core privacy goals in mind, you can pick what works for you. Your data has value to someone, whether for harming your finances or the company you work for, selling to marketers, or worse from governments. We believe your life should stay under your control.
Remember: We may not have anything to hide, but everything to protect.
