Without much information to use, the guess is you were using these apps on your phone. You phone itself acts as a centralized repository. It potentially uploads all your bulk information to a centralized server (possibly your email providers which sell information to each other) where correlations can be made (data analytics).

For simple searches, using a web browser on your phone, without being signed into your Amazon account, helps with private searching.

Best practice is to use hardened desktop browsers. Also, depending on the OS you use on your phone (still assuming it is a phone) a firewall may be a good idea, but you cannot use a firewall and VPN at the same time.

For iOS: Lockdown. For Android: NoRoot or NetGuard

We can offer some help, if you'd like to set up a complimentary private call, please let us know.

#privacy #cybersecurity