(Credit: René Ramos; New Africa, tsingha25/Shutterstock.com)
Your data is worth a lot to advertisers, criminals, and companies of all kinds. That's why you should monitor where your information goes and what companies do with it. The best way to stop corporations from copying your phone's contact list or checking out the contents of your camera roll is to limit access to your devices. This usually means downloading fewer invasive apps and denying other data requests. Here are some suggestions for locking down your devices and preventing data collection.
1. Read Privacy Policies and Reports
(Credit: Erdark via Getty Images)You can find out what kinds of data an app siphons from your phone or a website takes from your browser by browsing the company's privacy policy. Scroll down to the Data Collection section of the document and note what kinds of data the app or service collects and how the company stores and uses that information. You can also check the Android and iOS app store's app privacy reports. Keep an eye on your inbox, too. Companies email customers about policy changes and security incidents.
2. Always Opt Out of Data Collection
Many companies are incorporating generative AI tools into their services, and in some cases, like LinkedIn, the companies are training their AI models on customer data. If you don't want LinkedIn to scrape your future posts for AI training, visit the Settings menu and choose Data Privacy > Data for Generative AI Improvement.
Consider also using your pull as a customer to push back on company data collection and usage policies that don't align with your wants and needs. For example, I received a notice from Optery, which is, ironically, a personal data removal service, that customer information will be sent to OpenAI to generate removal reports. In the initial notice, people who use Optery were told they could opt out of the generative AI data processing. After receiving feedback from customers, Optery quickly changed the policy. Now, Optery users can click here to opt-in if they want AI-generated data removal report summaries.
3. Poison Your Data Well
Lie online whenever you can. Don't give out your real information when filling out web forms. I'm not recommending you do this when communicating with government agencies or your bank, but yes, go ahead and lie to the cooking website that wants your birthday, full name, phone number, and physical address in exchange for a chili recipe.
(Credit: Cricut/PCMag)If you can't figure out why an app or website needs the information they're harvesting from you, giving them your real data is not a good idea. In many cases, most of the information requested on a company’s webform is not required, so you can get away with leaving out important details about yourself. You can also choose not to accept cookies on many websites and deny application data requests without harming your user experience in any way.
4. Turn on MFA
(Credit: 2FAS/LastPass/Kim Key)You can start protecting your data more effectively by turning on the multi-factor authentication settings (MFA) for all the apps and websites you visit regularly. There are plenty of authenticator apps you can use with your mobile devices, or you could carry a hardware security key on your keychain. Entering passcodes is an extra step in the login process, but think of it as another barrier around your valuable data, designed to keep malicious individuals out of your accounts.
5. Use a Password Manager
Similarly, you should consider using the password manager on your device (either Apple Passwords or Google Password Manager) or a password management app to keep track of passkeys and passwords for your online accounts. A good password manager can streamline your login process by filling in your passwords. Some, such as Enpass, even allow you to choose where you store your data. Taking control of how and where your data is stored by keeping it in your own secure cloud storage or locally on your computer keeps you from becoming a victim of a company's vulnerabilities.
Don't Give Up Your Data Without a Fight
Security snafus and data breaches at companies cause less alarm these days, but that doesn't mean the fallout from your leaked data is nothing to worry about. Scammers spin up social engineering schemes using your private information, hackers can get into your unsecured accounts, and companies can train AI using the images, videos, and other data about you floating around online.
Fed up with data collection? Check out our guide to completely disappearing online. And if you're not quite ready to relinquish your internet presence, head over to our list of the best apps for online privacy.