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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- There’s a trade-off between convenience and privacy, but you can reduce online tracking.
- VPNs, browser choice, and anti-tracking software can all reduce the risk of monitoring.
- There are also solutions for removing your data that’s already available online.
The moment we connect to the web, we risk being tracked.
Data is now one of the world’s most valuable currencies. You might not consider your life to be particularly interesting, but each website you visit, purchase you ponder, interest you display, and comment you make represents dollar signs to companies that can profit from you.
Do these widespread practices make you feel uncomfortable? They should. Not only are you a commodity and subject to targeted ads, but your online trail may also pose a risk if you are in an area where governments conduct surveillance.
Also: How to delete or hide yourself from the internet – 11 effective ways (and most are free)
Want to reduce the flow of your data? Read our step-by-step guide below on how to stop the internet from tracking you.
1. Choose your browser with care
Your journey begins with choosing the right browser as your entry point to the internet. Most browsers allow invasive cookies and tracking, and may not provide any protection for you from the moment you request to visit a website.
Furthermore, they may partner with third parties to use your information and activities to profile you and serve you personalized ads.
Also: The best secure browsers for privacy: Expert tested
Secure browsers, however, will often block ads, fingerprinting, and trackers by default, while also offering a broad range of security and privacy settings you can implement.
For anonymization, the Tor Browser is the best on the market, but it doesn’t have the usability we now expect from our browsers. Other, more user-friendly options I can recommend include Brave and DuckDuckGo.
2. Install a tracker-blocking extension
Regardless of the browser you choose, to further prevent tracking, install one or two extensions that block trackers from working correctly. These extensions, often available for free or for a small donation, will identify and block tracking cookies, scripts, and headers from collecting your data.
Also: The best ad blockers: Clean up your browsing experience
My current favorites include Ghostery and Privacy Badger.
You can also opt to block ads and trackers across your entire home network.
3. Sign up for a VPN
A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can’t always stop tracking, but it can make it much harder to track and monitor you online. VPNs provide an encrypted tunnel for your online communication and queries, masking your IP address and making it difficult for organizations trying to track your movements.
Also: Best VPN services 2026: Expert tested and recommended
They aren’t a perfect anti-tracking solution, but you can take advantage of a VPN’s encryption, the assignment of a new IP address, and other features — such as setting up a private DNS server or using your VPN’s ad- and tracker-blocking features — to improve your privacy.
4. Allow only necessary cookies
Cookies are small packages of data used to identify you and your device when you visit a website or other online service. They can be convenient for some purposes, such as remembering your session and storing purchases in a shopping basket, and they might be essential for certain website functionality — but cookies can also be a privacy nightmare.
Not only are cookie notice pop-ups annoying, but cookies have a darker side. They are often used to collect information on you, and the more data is collected, the more complete the profile a website and its partners have on your life and interests. In turn, this leads to targeted advertising, and your information may be sold to third parties over whom you have no control.
Also: Why the most private way to browse the web isn’t incognito mode (but this instead)
When you receive a cookie notification on a website you are visiting, allow only necessary cookies when possible. Sometimes, websites will allow you to opt for necessary cookies only in pop-up notifications if you purchase a subscription — so it is your choice whether to proceed, knowing you will be tracked.
Block them if you can by visiting your browser’s settings and cookie menu. If you can block all cookie usage and storage, great, but this might impact website performance. If you can’t, and your browser permits it, block third-party cookies.
5. Turn off personalized ads
When possible, you should always turn off personalized advertisements in your online account settings, as this should limit how cookies and profilers interact and use your data.
Where you can find these settings depends on the service you are using. For example, on Facebook, you will find this option under “less-personalized ads” in Settings & Privacy > Settings > Accounts Center > Ad Preferences > Ad Experience > Manage info.
Also: How to protect your privacy from Facebook – and what doesn’t work
6. Use a burner or masked email address
Separate email addresses are a great idea to reduce user profiling and tracking. I always use a separate email for online purchases and subscriptions that I suspect will bombard me with emails. When using a new online service, I opt to mask my email address with a dedicated email masking function in the NordPass credential manager, but there are many alternatives.
If you need to provide an email address to sign up for a service or to access content and you believe you won’t need to use it more than once, use a free burner email address from a service such as ProtonMail. Taking these steps can break tracking chains and make it harder to build a shadow profile of you based on activities associated with your main email account.
7. Don’t forget about your mobile apps
It’s easy to lock down your browser and desktop system to stop tracking, but then forget about your smartphone or tablet. Mobile browsers and apps can track you just as easily, and this often comes down to settings and permissions.
To prevent tracking specifically, review the permissions you’ve granted to the apps installed on your device and delete any outdated, unused software. Not only can this reduce the overall volume of permissions and access granted to third parties, but it can also benefit you by reducing your mobile device’s attack surface, especially given how seemingly innocent apps can be turned into threats with a simple update.
Also: 7 ways to lock down your phone’s security – before it’s too late
Pay careful attention to any app that requests access to location services or your online accounts, such as your email.
8. Clean up your digital footprint
Many of us have grown up as oversharers, and now we need to clean up our act.
Preventing yourself from being tracked can stop third parties from harvesting current data on your activities, but it doesn’t prevent the collection, storage, sharing, or selling of information that is already available.
We have compiled an 11-step guide to deleting yourself from the internet to walk you through the process. To get started, these are my top tips:
- Run a search: Use Google or your preferred search engine to type in your name and see what appears. Flag any websites that appear, which may include old accounts and profiles you’d forgotten about. If you can, delete them. This goes for old forum comments, reviews, and social media profiles.
- Lock down social media: Most of us have at least one account on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Ensure your privacy is set to friends only — and not public — and consider submitting deletion requests for inactive accounts.
- Have I Been Pwned: Have I Been Pwned is a free search engine that lets you find out where your information has been leaked and when. Once you’ve input your email, the service provides a timeline of recorded and known data breaches, which can give you the information you need to lock down, secure, or delete online accounts.
Also: I found the easiest way to delete myself from the internet – and it’s fast
9. Consider a data deletion service
You’ve made it very difficult for third parties to track you. Now what? The final step I would recommend is to consider using a data removal service.
You should always opt out of data-sharing programs, but that isn’t always possible. Independent data removal services, such as Incogni, DeleteMe, and Privacy Bee, engage with data brokers and marketers on your behalf to remove any records they have relating to you and your personal information, such as your name, address, email, and other forms of PII.
Also: The best data removal services of 2026
Requests are usually sent automatically and don’t require your input. While it’s not necessary to prevent online tracking, I would still suggest that you look into these services if you want to keep your digital footprint as small as possible.
