How do I reduce how much data companies hold on me?
The settings worth changing, the accounts worth closing, and the handful of habits that make the most difference.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 1 hr
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
Close old accounts, turn off ad personalisation and location history in your main accounts, and stop using the same email address for everything. Those three cover most of it.
You cannot get back to zero, and chasing that is a way to give up entirely. A realistic goal is reducing how much is collected from here, and shrinking the number of companies holding anything at all.
Step by step
- Close accounts you no longer use.Every dormant account is data held and a breach waiting to include you. Search your email for "welcome to" to find ones you have forgotten.
- Turn off ad personalisation and activity history.In the privacy settings of your main accounts. Location history, web activity and voice recordings are usually separate toggles, each on by default.
- Review app permissions.Location, microphone, contacts, photographs. Set location to "while using" rather than always, and revoke anything an app has no business needing.
- Use separate email addresses.One for people, one for shopping and services. It limits how easily your activity is linked together and makes it obvious who leaked your address.
- Use email aliases where available.Several providers offer per-service aliases. If one starts receiving spam, you know exactly who sold it, and you can switch it off.
- Reduce browser tracking.A browser with tracking protection on by default, and a content blocker. This does more day to day than most account settings.
- Decline non-essential cookies.Tedious, but it is the point at which most tracking is agreed to. "Reject all" where offered.
- Ask for deletion where you care.Data protection law in the UK and EU gives you the right to request deletion. Companies must respond within a month.
Tips
- Do the highest-value things first: close dormant accounts and turn off ad personalisation. Perfection is not achievable and pursuing it means doing nothing.
- Loyalty schemes trade discounts for detailed purchase data. That may be a fair trade — just make it knowingly.
- Check permissions again after major system updates. They occasionally reset.
Questions people ask
Can I make companies delete my data?
In the UK and EU you can request deletion and they must respond within a month. Some data can be kept where there is a legal reason, such as tax records.
What is the single most effective thing to do?
Close accounts you no longer use. Dormant accounts hold data indefinitely and are the ones that turn up in breaches.