>Owning Your Digital Life;

Our online lives are increasingly #public. The #data trails left by our browsing, shopping, messaging, and more generate insights prized by tech giants. But convenience has a cost. Loss of #privacy changes how we think, create, explore.

What if we reclaimed control? Below I'll share resources to help safeguard your digital #rights, make informed #choices about #tech, and participate in building a more #decentralized web. Small steps by many can reshape our relationship with technology.

>Know Your Rights;

· Review the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our rights to privacy, free expression, and more apply online.

· Understand laws that protect online privacy where you live. In the EU and UK, GDPR is a key framework. In the US, state laws are expanding.

· Follow organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation that defend digital rights through advocacy and legal channels. Their guides explain key issues.

>Take Inventory;

· Catalog where your personal data goes. Make a list of accounts, apps, services you use. Who can access what you share?

· Try a privacy audit. Document your security settings, terms of service, app permissions. This illuminates risks.

· Deactivate and delete unused accounts that hold your data. Start fresh where you can.

>Enhance Privacy;

· Use encrypted messaging apps like Signal or SimpleX for your sensitive chats.

· Switch default search engines to more privacy-focused options like DuckDuckGo, StartPage, or roll your own Yacy or SearxNG node.

· Use a VPN to cloak your browsing. ProtonVPN and Mullvad are vetted choices.

· Opt out of the data broker economy. Sites like https://www.datarequests.org/ facilitate this.

>Get Savvy;

· Learn how tracking technologies like cookies work. Browser plug-ins can help identify them.

· Understand how your data gets used for advertising or algorithmic profiling. Follow experts like Finn Myrstad.

· Discover digital security basics through training resources like Security First.

>Explore Alternatives;

· Instead of Google Docs, try encrypted open-source office suites like CryptPad.

· For video calls, Jitsi Meet is a more secure open-source option than Zoom or Skype.

· Try decentralized social networks like #nostr instead of Twitter or Facebook.

>Teach Others;

· Help friends and family audit their privacy settings or install encryption apps. Teaching multiplies impact.

· Advocate for digital rights, online privacy and media literacy education in schools and communities.

· Support initiatives that increase access to secure technology for disadvantaged groups.

Our digital autonomy rests on individual and collective action. We can nurture a future where technology serves human dignity, not surveillance capitalism. What steps will you take today? Share your ideas!