Privacy Online

You Are the Product

When a service is free, you are not the customer. You are the product. Your browsing habits, location history, purchase patterns, social connections, and personal preferences are collected, packaged, and sold.

By the end of this lesson, you will understand how tracking works and have practical tools to control your digital footprint.

Quick Recall: In the previous lesson, we secured our network connections with VPNs, router configuration, and Wi-Fi safety practices. Secure connections protect data in transit. Privacy protects your data from the services you voluntarily use.

How You Are Tracked

Understanding tracking methods helps you defend against them:

The data picture: Individually, each piece of data seems harmless. Combined, they create a detailed profile: where you go, what you buy, who you know, what you read, and what you believe.

Browser Privacy

Your browser is the primary window through which you are tracked.

Privacy-focused browsers:

• Firefox: Strong privacy defaults, extensive customization
• Brave: Built-in ad and tracker blocking
• Safari: Good privacy with Intelligent Tracking Prevention

Essential browser settings:

• Block third-party cookies (Settings > Privacy)
• Enable “Do Not Track” requests
• Clear cookies periodically (or auto-clear on browser close)
• Install uBlock Origin (blocks ads, trackers, and malicious scripts)

Search engine alternatives:

• DuckDuckGo: Does not track your searches
• Startpage: Google results without Google tracking
• Google still works, but your searches are logged and profiled

Quick Check: What is the difference between first-party cookies and third-party cookies, and which one is a privacy concern?

Social Media Privacy

Social media platforms are the largest data collectors. Reduce what they know:

Facebook/Meta:

• Settings > Privacy > limit who can see your posts and profile
• Settings > Privacy > Off-Facebook Activity > clear and disconnect
• Disable facial recognition
• Review and remove unnecessary app connections

Google:

• myaccount.google.com > Data & Privacy
• Turn off Web & App Activity (or set auto-delete to 3 months)
• Turn off Location History
• Turn off YouTube Watch History
• Review ad personalization settings

Instagram/TikTok/Twitter:

• Set accounts to private if you do not need public reach
• Limit location sharing in posts
• Review connected apps and revoke unnecessary access
• Disable personalized ads where possible

The social media audit:

Review your settings on each platform using these steps:

1. Go to Privacy settings
2. Restrict who can see your content
3. Limit data collection options
4. Remove connected third-party apps you no longer use
5. Review what data the platform has collected about you

Phone Privacy

Your phone tracks more than any other device:

Location services:

• Review which apps have location access (Settings > Privacy > Location)
• Set most apps to “While Using” instead of “Always”
• Disable location for apps that do not need it
• Turn off “Significant Locations” tracking (iPhone) or “Location History” (Android)

Advertising settings:

• iPhone: Settings > Privacy > Tracking > Disable “Allow Apps to Request to Track”
• Android: Settings > Privacy > Ads > Reset Advertising ID or opt out of personalization

Quick Check: Why should you set app location permissions to “While Using” instead of “Always”?

Email Privacy

Your email address is your digital identity. Protect it:

Use email aliases:

• Apple Hide My Email creates random forwarding addresses
• Firefox Relay provides temporary email addresses
• Use a separate email for shopping and newsletters

Email privacy practices:

• Disable automatic image loading in email (images track when you open messages)
• Unsubscribe from newsletters you do not read (they track opens and clicks)
• Use a dedicated email for financial accounts (separate from your public email)

The Privacy Spectrum

Privacy is not all-or-nothing. Choose your level:

For most people, the “Moderate” level provides excellent protection with reasonable effort. The goal is not to disappear from the internet. It is to control what data you share and with whom.

Try It Yourself

Improve your privacy in the next 20 minutes:

1. Install uBlock Origin on your browser
2. Switch your default search engine to DuckDuckGo
3. Review location permissions on your phone (set most to “While Using”)
4. Visit myaccount.google.com and review your data collection settings
5. Disable “Allow Apps to Request to Track” on your iPhone or opt out on Android

Key Takeaways

• You are tracked through cookies, fingerprinting, location data, and social media pixels that combine into detailed personal profiles
• Use a privacy-focused browser with an ad blocker and restricted third-party cookies as your first line of defense
• Audit social media privacy settings on every platform: restrict visibility, disable tracking, and remove unnecessary app connections
• Set phone app location permissions to “While Using” instead of “Always” and disable advertising tracking
• Choose a privacy level that matches your needs: basic protections require minimal effort but provide significant improvement

Up Next

In Lesson 7: Incident Response, we will prepare for the worst case: what to do when a security breach or account compromise actually happens.