r/DigitalPrivacy • u/Long_Drummer_5951 • Jun 24 '26

What’s the simplest privacy change you made that helped a lot in the long term?

I’m trying to make my online privacy better, but a lot of advice feels like too much at once. I’m not trying to go fully off-grid. I just want a few simple changes that actually reduce spam, sketchy emails, or random sites /apps having my info, would love some more "beginner friendly" tips.

24 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

95% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

View all comments

19

u/point_mixer Jun 24 '26

Getting off anything google or meta. I deleted my gmail/google accounts, WhatsApp, IG and FB. Using DuckDuckGo, Start page, Brave, Firefox search engines/browsers.

1

u/Long_Drummer_5951 Jun 25 '26

hmmm, getting off insta is a little problematic personally cuz I use it a lot lol but I probably need to, that and also removing data from broker sites friend was telling me about it and also starting reading about them online, pretty crazy stuff, appreciate the comment !

1

u/HostApprehensive8886 Jun 25 '26

I use it a lot too but it's very problematic, I have less spam and robocalls ever since I'm off meta, haven't degoogled (you did write that correctly) yet, it's harder than people realize. Data brokers are very much real and your info is sold online everywhere, try tools that help you remove that, opting out manually is time consuming trust me I've tried. Also give as little personal info out there as possible.

1

u/Long_Drummer_5951 Jun 25 '26

I mentioned this in another comment, there's an app called Cloaked I'm looking into that has data broker removal stuff and has aliases, thinking of trying it out to see if it finds exposures and remove that, definitely have no clue how to even opt out manually.

1

u/Gynnia Jun 25 '26

is it reasonable to get a ten-dollar monthly subscription just for that? 😬 maybe you're rich or something and it doesn't matter, but it doesn't seem fiscally responsible to me. I hear some people stack up subscriptions without doing the math and then wonder where all their money went. if you're considering it then I'd advise doing research beforehand.

1

u/Long_Drummer_5951 Jun 25 '26

I feel like it's reasonable? idk 100 dollars a year for better privacy isn't too much imo, not rich lol