Almost all big companies, marketers tracking your every step online, shady people exploring the photos you shared in social networks the list of digital annoyances goes on and on. However, it's not completely hopeless: You do have control over your data and how you want to handle it. Here's how to improve your privacy online. Check social privacy settings: If you have social accounts, those networks have a lot of information about you, and you might be surprised how much of it is visible to anybody on the Internet by default. That’s why we strongly recommend you check your privacy settings: It’s up to you to decide what info you want to share with complete strangers versus your friends or even nobody but you. Don't use public storages for private information: Oversharing is not limited to social networks. Don't use online services that are meant for sharing information to store your private data. For example, Google Docs isn't an ideal place to store a list of passwords, and Dropbox is not the best venue for your passport scans unless they are kept in an encrypted archive. Avoid being tracked online: When you visit a website, your browser discloses a bunch of stuff about you and your surfing history. Marketers use that information to profile you and target you with ads. Incognito mode can't really prevent such tracking; you need to use special tools. Tools such as paid internet security application or paid VPN services can come in handy in this case. Keep your main email address and phone number private: Your reward for sharing your email address and phone number? Tons of spam in your email inbox and hundreds of robocalls on your phone. Even if you can't avoid sharing this info with Internet services and online stores, don't share it with random people on social networks. And consider creating a separate, disposable email address and, if possible, a separate phone number for these cases. Use messaging apps with end-to-end encryption: Most modern messaging apps use encryption, but in many cases, it's what they call encryption in-transit. Messages are decrypted on the provider’s side and stored on its servers. What if someone hacks those servers? Don't take that risk and choose end-to-end encryption. That way, even the messaging service provider can't see your conversations (such as WhatsApp). You can also turn on end-to-end encryption in Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and Google Allo. Use secure passwords: Using weak passwords to protect your private information is as good as shouting that information to passersby. It's nearly impossible to memorize long and unique passwords for all the services you use, but with a password manager, you can memorize just one master password. You can install to your device as well as browsers to manage your password without trouble. Review permissions for mobile apps and browser extensions: Mobile apps prompt you to give them permissions to access contacts or files in device storage, and to use the camera, microphone, geolocation, and so on. Some really cannot work without these permissions, but some use this information to profile you for marketing (and worse). Fortunately, it's relatively easy to control which apps are given which permissions. Disable lock screen notifications: Protect your phone with a long, secure password, but leave notifications on the lock screen? Now any passerby can see your business. To keep that information from appearing on the locked screen, set up notifications correctly. Stay private on Wi-Fi networks: Public Wi-Fi networks usually do not encrypt traffic, and that means anyone on the same network can try to snoop on your traffic. Avoid transmitting any sensitive data: logins, passwords, credit card data, and so forth over public Wi-Fi, and use a VPN to encrypt your data and protect it from prying eyes. It is not that easy to be safe for a regular person but by taking professional advice, you can always be better at that. Thank you for completing this long text, you are awesome at typing.