Tech
Privacy settings worth the fifteen minutes
A small number of changes remove most routine tracking without making anything harder to use.
Advertising identifiers on phones can be reset and limited in the settings, which breaks the link between a device and a long-running profile. It takes under a minute and is the highest-value single change on a phone.
App permissions are worth a periodic review. Location, microphone, contacts and photo library are the ones granted most freely and most often unnecessary; most systems now show which apps used which permission recently, which makes the review quick.
In browsers, blocking third-party cookies and using a reputable content blocker removes most cross-site tracking. Search engines that do not build a profile are a reasonable default for anybody who wants one.
Several states now give residents rights to see, delete and stop the sale of personal data held by companies. Exercising them is a request to each company rather than a single switch, and data broker opt-out lists exist to make that less laborious.
What to do next. Reset your phone's advertising identifier and review which apps have location and microphone access.
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