Have you ever liked a post about a topic and suddenly started to see ads related to it pop up everywhere? That’s no coincidence, and it happens because that interaction was tracked – just as every click, post, or search you’ve ever done has been.

If that makes you feel exposed – it should. There are countless companies you’ve probably never heard of collecting tons of data about your preferences, habits, location, and more. What’s worse is that data can be sold, shared, or even stolen by others – without you ever knowing about it.

To protect your privacy, you need to take back control of your data. And right now, we’re going to look at several ways to do that.

Limit What You Share

One of the easiest yet most effective ways to avoid being exposed is to simply share less things about yourself online. Before you post anything, ask yourself if it’s something you don’t want others to know.

Be particularly careful about any posts that could reveal your current location, contact details, or the answers to common security questions such as your birthday, pet’s name, or favorite hobby. The less information you make available, the less exposed you’ll be.

Use a VPN

By using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) such as ExpressVPN or NordVPN, you can encrypt your internet traffic and prevent third parties from seeing your activity. It’ll also mask your IP address and stop websites from using it to track your location.

Keep in mind that public WiFi in coffeeshops or other places is typically unsecured – putting your data at risk of being intercepted by hackers. It is definitely a good idea to use a VPN in such cases, as it will encrypt your data and keep it safe.

Try Encrypted Messaging Apps

Check that whatever messaging apps you use to chat with your friends and family use end-to-end encryption. If they do, only you and the intended recipients can read the messages – and they won’t be able to be intercepted by others.

Turn Off Unnecessary App Permissions

Some apps request a ton of permissions they don’t really need, and use them to collect lots of data. Whenever an app asks for permission to access your location, camera, contacts or other areas – ask yourself: Does it really need this to perform its function?

Get into the habit of reviewing app permissions in your phone’s settings from time to time. Turn off anything that doesn’t make sense, such as a flashlight app that wants to know your location, or a game that wants access to your camera roll.

Tighten Privacy Settings

Go over the privacy settings on social media as well as other online services. Look for any options that can limit the people allowed to view your profile, posts, and any other information you may not want to be public.

For social media platforms, you should look for options to disable automatic location tagging and limit the people who can tag you in photos. Some may allow you to opt out of personalize ads – which has been known to reduce tracking too.

Up Your Password Game

Passwords that are weak or reused across multiple accounts can leave you vulnerable. Here are a few simple rules that can help you strengthen your passwords:

• Create a different password for every account.
• Make sure it is long (at least 10 to 13 characters).
• Add to its complexity with numbers, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and symbols.

On top of that you should always enable 2-factor authentication whenever it’s available to add an extra layer of security.

Remove Data From Search Engines

Search engines collect a ton of data, and while you can’t completely stop them from tracking you – it is possible to delete the data they’ve collected. In Google this can be done via the My Activity dashboard, and other search engines have similar options you can try.

If you want to avoid tracking completely, your best bet is to try out more privacy-focused search engines such as DuckDuckGo or Brave Search.that block ad trackers, cookies, and fingerprinting.

Install Updates Regularly

New software updates don’t just contain new features – they also contain security patches and bug fixes for issues that hackers could potentially use to steal your data. Because of that you need to install updates regularly for your browser, operating system, and any other software.

As you can see, you don’t need to take drastic measures to reduce your exposure. Instead, all you need to do is intentionally make the right choices to protect your privacy.

If you want you can start small and slowly but surely follow the steps we listed above to improve your privacy. Always remember that your goal is to try to limit the amount of data that others can access and potentially exploit.