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To secure your online privacy, share less personal information, lock down important accounts, keep your devices updated, and verify unexpected requests before acting. No checklist can guarantee complete privacy, but these steps reduce the information exposed about you and make common account compromises harder.

This is general U.S. consumer guidance. Settings and available protections vary by service, device, and account.

1. Share less personal information publicly

Before posting or filling out a profile, ask whether each detail is necessary. Your full birth date, home or regular location, contact information, and personal history can reveal more than you intend. Details that help someone guess account-recovery answers or impersonate you deserve particular care.

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) maintains consumer resources on how websites and apps collect and use information, as well as people-search sites. Consult its resources if you want to look into data collection or listings in more depth.

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2. Review privacy controls on social accounts and apps

Check who can see your profile and posts, whether location is shared, and whether contact syncing or personalized advertising is enabled. Services use different menus and labels, so look in each service’s privacy or account settings rather than relying on one universal path.

Review these controls when you create an account and again after significant app or service changes. A setting that limits visibility does not erase information already shared or guarantee that a service will not process data in other ways.

3. Use a different password for every account

A unique password prevents a password exposed in one breach from automatically unlocking your other accounts. NIST recommends password managers for accounts that use passwords: they can generate and securely store long, complex credentials so you do not have to memorize each one.

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Choose a reputable password manager, protect its main login carefully, and enable multifactor authentication (MFA) on it if supported. The manager is a high-value account because it may hold access to many others.

4. Use passkeys or MFA where available

A password alone is not the strongest protection an account may offer. Use a passkey or turn on MFA when a service supports it. A passkey is tied to a particular login and is less susceptible to phishing than a password.

When choosing an MFA method, consider phishing resistance, whether the service supports it, how you can recover access if a device is lost, and everyday convenience. If offered, prefer a passkey, authenticator app, or security key over a text-message code. FTC guidance identifies authenticator apps and security keys as more secure options than text or email codes. CISA’s August 29, 2025 guidance describes physical security keys as providing the strongest phishing protection among the MFA options it discusses; the account must support security keys for one to work.

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5. How do I create a good password?

If you have to make a password yourself, make it long and unique. NIST’s consumer guidance recommends at least 15 characters. A passphrase made from several random words may be easier to remember than a shorter, more complicated-looking string. NIST emphasizes length over arbitrary requirements to include particular character types.

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Some older or individual websites still impose their own password rules, so use a format the site accepts. NIST’s password article was updated August 20, 2025. It attributes this warning to Ryan Galluzzo, who leads NIST’s Digital Identity Program: “The worst password I can think of is ‘password’ or ‘12345.’”

6. Keep software up to date

Install updates for your operating system, browser, apps, and security software promptly. Where practical, turn on automatic updates so security fixes are not left waiting. The FTC notes that updates often include patches and protections against security threats.

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7. Secure your home Wi-Fi and router

Use the security controls available on your router and set a strong administrator password. Follow the router maker’s current instructions; interfaces and options differ by model. An insecure or compromised device can put other devices on the same network at risk, so consider the router part of your household’s security rather than a one-time setup task.

8. How do I avoid phishing links?

Treat unexpected messages as untrusted until you verify them. Do not open unexpected links or attachments, and do not enter login details through a link in an unsolicited email or text. If a message claims to be from a company or public agency, contact it using a website address or phone number you already know is genuine—not the details in the message.

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9. Limit app and device permissions

Review which apps can access your location, contacts, microphone, and camera. Remove access an app does not need for its function, and reconsider permissions you granted long ago. The FTC provides consumer resources about app data collection and voice-assistant privacy; exact settings vary across platforms, so consult the controls and guidance for your own device.

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10. Protect the accounts that can unlock others

Prioritize email, financial accounts, your mobile-carrier account, social accounts, and any account used to reset other logins. Add a passkey or MFA where available, and make sure the recovery information for each account is current. Access to an email or phone account can help someone take over other services, so securing these accounts has an outsized benefit.

11. Respond quickly if an account or device is compromised

If you suspect a takeover, use the provider’s official recovery process and secure your primary email account. Change any affected passwords that you reused elsewhere, then revoke unfamiliar sessions or devices if the service provides that control. If personal information is being misused, the FTC directs consumers to IdentityTheft.gov for help.

12. Get specialized help for safety-sensitive privacy risks

Stalkerware, people-search listings, voice-assistant recordings, and image-based abuse can call for different kinds of support. The FTC maintains separate resources on these subjects, but a general privacy checklist is not a full safety plan. If you are facing stalking or abuse, avoid steps that could alert the person harming you and seek appropriate specialist support.

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How the protections fit together

Online privacy is layered: limit unnecessary exposure, secure accounts, keep devices current, and independently verify suspicious requests. Which steps matter most depends on your accounts, devices, and circumstances. The FTC, NIST, and CISA resources cited above offer further U.S. consumer guidance; CISA’s Secure Our World page is archived, so its security-key comparison is limited to the dated August 29, 2025 resource.

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