Every day, you’re being tracked online. Not in a conspiracy theory way—in a very real, very mundane, very legal way. Websites watch where you click. Apps monitor your location. Companies build detailed profiles of your habits, interests, and behaviors. And most of us just accept this as the price of using the internet.
But here’s what bothers me: we’ve been conditioned to think we have two choices: either accept total surveillance or become a privacy extremist who uses only encrypted everything and never shares anything online. That’s a false choice.
You can have a reasonable level of privacy without giving up the convenience of modern internet services. You don’t need to become a tech monk hiding in the digital wilderness. You just need to understand what’s actually happening and make a few strategic changes.
Let me show you how to take back some control without making your digital life miserable.
What’s Actually Being Tracked
Before we can protect our privacy, we need to understand what’s being tracked. The scope is probably bigger than you think.
Your Browsing History
Every website you visit potentially tracks you. They know which pages you viewed, how long you stayed, what you clicked on, and where you came from. They use this information to show you targeted ads, improve their website, and sometimes sell your data to third parties.
But it goes deeper than that. Third-party tracking scripts (from Google, Facebook, and others) are embedded on millions of websites, tracking you across the entire web. They’re building a comprehensive profile of your browsing behavior.
Your Location
Your smartphone constantly tracks your location—not just when you’re using maps, but all the time if you’ve given apps permission. This data reveals where you live, where you work, where you shop, and everywhere else you go.
Even if you think you’ve disabled location tracking, your device is still pinging cell towers and can be triangulated to determine your approximate location.
Your Searches
Search engines keep records of everything you search for, building a detailed picture of your interests, concerns, and questions. Google, in particular, keeps an incredibly detailed history tied to your account if you’re signed in.
Your Communications
Email, messaging apps, and social media platforms all have access to your conversations. While most major companies claim they don’t read your messages for advertising purposes, they certainly analyze them for security purposes and to improve their services.
Your Shopping and Financial Data
Online retailers track not just what you buy, but also what you browse, what you add to your cart but don’t buy, and how much you’re willing to spend. Credit card companies know where you shop, what you buy, and when.
Why This Matters
Some people respond to all this with “I have nothing to hide.” But privacy isn’t about hiding—it’s about control. It’s about deciding who knows what about you and how that information can be used.
Here’s why you should care:
Price discrimination: Some online retailers show different prices to different people based on their browsing history and perceived willingness to pay.
Data breaches: The more places that have your data, the more likely it is to be stolen in a breach. We see major breaches almost weekly now.
Manipulation: Detailed profiles of your behavior can be used to manipulate you—through advertising, political messaging, or outright scams.
Future implications: Data that seems harmless today could be used against you in ways you can’t predict. Political affiliations, health conditions, financial struggles—these things are all discoverable through your digital footprint.
The creep factor: Maybe you’re okay with being tracked in theory, but have you ever been served an ad for something you only mentioned in conversation? It’s unsettling, and it’s real.
The Low-Hanging Fruit: Easy Privacy Wins
Let’s start with changes that take minimal effort but provide real privacy benefits.
Switch Your Search Engine
Instead of Google, use DuckDuckGo. It’s a search engine that doesn’t track you or create personalized search results. The quality is comparable to Google for most searches, and there’s zero setup required—just start using it.
You can even set it as your default search engine in your browser settings so it’s automatic.
If you absolutely need Google for a specific search, you can always manually go to google.com for that one query. But for daily searching, DuckDuckGo is a simple switch that immediately reduces your tracking footprint.
Use a Better Browser
If you’re using Chrome, you’re essentially using a Google surveillance tool. Chrome tracks an enormous amount of your browsing behavior.
Switch to Firefox or Brave instead. Both are free, fast, and designed with privacy in mind. Firefox is a non-profit open-source browser with built-in tracking protection. Brave goes even further, blocking ads and trackers by default.
The switch takes about five minutes: install the new browser, import your bookmarks and passwords, and you’re done.
Install Browser Extensions
Even if you stick with Chrome, you can improve your privacy with a few extensions:
uBlock Origin blocks ads and many trackers. It’s free, open-source, and dramatically reduces the amount of tracking scripts on websites.
Privacy Badger (from the Electronic Frontier Foundation) learns which trackers follow you around and blocks them.
HTTPS Everywhere forces websites to use encrypted connections when possible.
Installing these takes two minutes each and requires no configuration—they just work automatically.
Review App Permissions
On your phone, go through your app permissions and revoke anything that seems excessive. Does your flashlight app really need access to your location? Does your game need access to your contacts?
On iPhone: Settings > Privacy > [each permission type]
On Android: Settings > Apps > [select app] > Permissions
Be brutal. If an app breaks without a certain permission, you can always grant it again. Most apps request far more permissions than they actually need.
The Middle Ground: More Protection Without Inconvenience
Once you’ve handled the easy stuff, these steps provide additional protection without significantly changing how you use the internet.
Use a VPN
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a different server, hiding your real IP address and making it harder for websites and ISPs to track you.
Good VPN services cost around $5-10 per month. My recommendations:
Mullvad is focused purely on privacy and doesn’t even require an email address to sign up. It’s $5 per month.
ProtonVPN has a free tier and is run by the same privacy-focused company behind ProtonMail. The paid version is $10 per month.
IVPN is another privacy-focused option with a strong reputation and transparent practices.
Avoid free VPNs—they make money by selling your data, which defeats the purpose. Also avoid VPNs that are heavily advertised by YouTube influencers—marketing costs money, and that cost comes from somewhere.
Use Encrypted Messaging
Instead of regular SMS or Facebook Messenger, use Signal for your important conversations. It’s free, easy to use, and provides end-to-end encryption that even Signal itself can’t break.
The catch is that both you and the person you’re messaging need to have Signal installed. But it’s worth convincing your close contacts to switch for sensitive communications.
WhatsApp also uses encryption, but it’s owned by Facebook, which doesn’t inspire confidence. Signal is genuinely private.
Use a Privacy-Focused Email Service
Gmail scans your emails for various purposes. If that bothers you, consider switching to ProtonMail or Tutanota—both offer free tiers with end-to-end encryption.
The downside is that you’ll need to change your email address, which is a hassle. For many people, keeping Gmail but being more careful about what you share there is a reasonable compromise.
Clear Your Digital Footprint
Google yourself and see what’s out there. Then start cleaning it up:
Delete old social media accounts you no longer use
Use services like DeleteMe or JustDeleteMe to remove your information from data broker sites
Go through your Google account settings and delete your location history, search history, and activity history
On Facebook, review your post visibility and tighten your privacy settings
This is tedious but worthwhile. Set aside an afternoon to clean up your digital presence.
The Hardcore Stuff: For When You Really Care
These steps provide serious privacy protection but come with real inconvenience. Only go this far if privacy is a top priority for you.
Use Tor
Tor Browser routes your traffic through multiple servers, making it extremely difficult to track. It’s the closest you can get to anonymous browsing.
The downsides: it’s slow, many websites don’t work properly with it, and you’ll constantly solve CAPTCHAs. But if you need anonymity, Tor delivers.
De-Google Your Life
Replace all Google services:
Gmail → ProtonMail or Tutanota
Google Drive → Nextcloud or Tresorit
Google Calendar → Proton Calendar
Android → GrapheneOS (if you’re very technical)
This is a massive undertaking and comes with real convenience costs. Only do this if you’re truly committed.
Use Separate Browsers for Different Activities
Keep one browser for signed-in accounts (email, banking) and another for general browsing. This prevents cross-site tracking between your personal accounts and your browsing behavior.
What About Social Media?
Here’s the truth: you can’t use Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok and expect real privacy. These platforms’ entire business model is built on collecting and monetizing your data.
Your options are limited:
Accept that these platforms track you extensively
Limit what you share and how you use them
Delete your accounts
If you’re staying on social media, at least:
Review your privacy settings regularly
Don’t use “Sign in with Facebook” on other websites
Be thoughtful about what you post publicly
Consider using the web version instead of the app (it tracks less)
The Privacy Paradox
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: complete privacy requires giving up convenience, and most of us aren’t willing to make that trade.
You can’t have the convenience of Google Maps knowing exactly where you want to go while also having complete location privacy. You can’t have personalized recommendations while also having zero behavioral tracking.
The key is finding your comfort level. Maybe you’re okay with Google tracking your searches but not your location. Maybe you’re fine with targeted ads but not with your browsing history being sold to data brokers.
Figure out what matters most to you and focus your energy there. You don’t have to protect everything—you just need to protect what matters.
Making It Practical
Start with the low-hanging fruit I mentioned earlier. That’ll give you significant privacy improvements with minimal effort. Then, if you want to go further, tackle the middle-ground options.
Don’t try to do everything at once. Pick one thing per week: this week, switch your search engine. Next week, install browser extensions. The week after that, review app permissions.
Gradual change is sustainable. Trying to overhaul your entire digital life in one day leads to burnout and giving up.
The Bottom Line
You’re never going to have perfect privacy in the modern internet. That ship has sailed. But you can have reasonable privacy—enough to protect yourself from casual surveillance, data breaches, and manipulation.
The question isn’t whether you value privacy over convenience. The question is: what’s the minimum level of privacy you need to feel comfortable, and how can you achieve that without making your life miserable?
Answer that question honestly, make the changes that matter to you, and stop feeling guilty about the ones you’re not willing to make. Privacy is personal, and your choices are yours to make.
Just don’t make the choice to do nothing. That’s not a choice—that’s surrender.