Every day you use the internet, you leave behind a trail of data. The websites you visit, the searches you make, the things you buy, the videos you watch, the messages you send — all of this information is collected, analysed, and often sold. Online privacy is about understanding this data collection and having the power to control what information you share and with whom.

This guide explains the basics of online privacy, who is collecting your data, why it matters, and the first steps to protecting yourself.

🔍 The average person generates 1.7 megabytes of data every second of every day. Most of it is collected without you actively realising it.

Who is Collecting Your Data?

Many different entities collect data about you online, often simultaneously:

Tech Companies and Advertisers

Google, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Amazon, and hundreds of smaller advertising companies track your behaviour across websites using cookies, tracking pixels, and device fingerprinting. They build detailed profiles about your interests, habits, income level, political views, health concerns, and more. These profiles are used to serve targeted advertising and are also sold to third parties.

Your Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Your ISP sees every website you visit and every app you use — unless you use a VPN or HTTPS. In many countries, ISPs are legally permitted to sell this browsing data to advertisers. In the US, Congress voted in 2017 to allow ISPs to sell customer browsing data without consent, and this remains the law.

The Websites and Apps You Use

Most websites you visit collect data about your behaviour — which pages you look at, how long you spend on each, what you click, where your mouse moves. Apps on your phone often request permissions for your location, contacts, microphone, and camera, and use this data for advertising and analytics.

Data Brokers

Data brokers are companies most people have never heard of that buy, compile, and sell detailed personal profiles. They aggregate data from public records, social media, loyalty programmes, purchase histories, and many other sources. Your profile with a data broker might include your name, address, income, health conditions, political affiliation, purchasing habits, and family members’ information.

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Why Does Online Privacy Matter?

Some people say “I have nothing to hide, so I do not care about privacy.” This misunderstands what privacy actually is. Privacy is not about hiding wrongdoing — it is a fundamental human right that enables autonomy, dignity, and freedom. Here is why it matters practically:

  • Manipulation: Detailed profiles enable companies and political groups to manipulate your decisions — what you buy, what you believe, how you vote
  • Price discrimination: Companies charge different prices based on what your data suggests about your income and willingness to pay
  • Security risk: Data collected about you can be breached and used for identity theft, fraud, or phishing attacks
  • Chilling effect: Knowing you are being watched changes your behaviour — people self-censor and avoid certain searches or websites
  • Future risks: Data collected today about your health, politics, or sexuality could be used against you in unforeseen future contexts
  • Power imbalance: Companies and governments knowing everything about you, while remaining opaque themselves, creates a profound power imbalance

The Most Common Privacy Threats

  • Third-party tracking cookies: Follow you across websites, building browsing profiles
  • Device fingerprinting: Identifies your device by its unique technical characteristics, even without cookies
  • Location tracking: Apps and websites that track your physical location continuously
  • Social media surveillance: Platforms tracking your behaviour even on other websites via “Like” buttons and share widgets
  • Email tracking pixels: Invisible images in emails that tell senders when you open them
  • Data breaches: Your data stored by companies can be stolen by hackers

Five First Steps to Protect Your Privacy

  1. Switch to a privacy browser: Use Firefox or Brave instead of Chrome
  2. Use a search engine that does not track you: DuckDuckGo or Startpage instead of Google
  3. Install uBlock Origin: A free browser extension that blocks ads and trackers
  4. Audit your app permissions: Go through your phone settings and revoke unnecessary permissions
  5. Use a VPN on public Wi-Fi: Encrypts your traffic on untrusted networks

Final Thoughts

Online privacy is not an all-or-nothing proposition. You do not need to disappear from the internet or give up all your favourite services to meaningfully improve your privacy. Small steps — switching browsers, blocking trackers, using a private search engine — make a real difference. The goal is to reduce unnecessary data collection and take back some control over your digital life.

The rest of the articles in our Online Privacy series will walk you through each of these protections in detail.