This page is different from the rest of the blog. The other posts here dig into one company or one story at a time. This one is a starting point. If someone sent you here, or you’re new to this topic, this page gives you real steps you can take today, in plain language, no technical background needed.
You don’t need to throw away your phone or stop using apps. You need to know which settings actually matter and which habits actually protect you. That’s what this page covers.
Start with your phone
Your phone is the biggest source of tracking in your daily life, and it’s also the easiest thing to fix.
Turn off Bluetooth when you’re not using it. Stores use small transmitters called beacons to detect your phone through their own app and track which aisle you’re standing in. Go to your phone’s Settings, find Bluetooth, and turn it off before you walk into a store. You can turn it back on in the car if you use it for headphones or your car stereo.
Check which apps can see your location. On an iPhone, go to Settings, then Privacy & Security, then Location Services. On an Android phone, go to Settings, then Location, then App permissions. Look at the list of apps and ask yourself if each one actually needs to know where you are. A weather app needs it. A retail store’s app usually doesn’t need it turned on all the time, only “while using.”
Turn off location for apps you don’t need it for. Same screen as above. Set store apps and shopping apps to “Never” or “Ask every time” instead of “Always.”
At the grocery store or any retail store
Use a loyalty card without a full account, if you can. Many stores let you get a physical loyalty card without linking your real name, address, or an account with your full information. Ask at customer service if a card can be issued without a full sign-up. If not, consider using a separate email address just for store accounts, one that isn’t tied to your regular identity.
Know that shopping carts can be tracked even without your phone. Some stores now put small tracking devices directly on their carts. There’s no setting you can turn off for this since it’s not your device, it’s theirs. Just know it’s happening so you’re not caught off guard if you notice a small unmarked box under the cart.
Pay with cash when it’s practical. This is the simplest way to stop a purchase from being tied to your name at all. It won’t always be practical, but for smaller purchases it’s a real option.
Watch for signs a price might be personalized to you. If a price looks different from what a friend or family member paid for the same item, or from what you paid last time with no sale happening, that’s worth noticing. Some states now require a label disclosing when a price was set by an algorithm using your personal data. If you see one, that confirms what’s happening.
Your accounts and data
Request your data, or ask for it to be deleted, if your state allows it. States including California give you a legal right to ask a company what data they have on you and to request it be deleted. This usually means filling out a form on the company’s website, sometimes under a page called “Privacy,” “Your Data,” or “Do Not Sell My Information.” It takes a few minutes and it’s a real right, most people just don’t know to use it.
Use a separate email for accounts you don’t fully trust. Free email providers make this easy. Keep your main email for banking, family, and people you know. Use a second email for store loyalty programs, contests, and anything you’re signing up for out of convenience rather than necessity.
Be skeptical of “free” apps that ask for a lot of permissions. If a simple app, like a coupon app or a game, asks for access to your contacts, your microphone, or your precise location, ask yourself if that access makes sense for what the app actually does. If it doesn’t, deny the permission or don’t install the app.
A few habits worth building
Ask questions out loud, in public, when something seems off. If a store has a camera pointed at a shelf display, or a strange device on a cart, or a checkout process that feels like it’s watching you closer than it should, ask an employee what it’s for. You’re allowed to ask. Public questions also tend to be how these practices get noticed and pushed back on in the first place.
Check your local city council or county commissioners meeting agenda occasionally. Decisions about surveillance cameras, tax breaks for data centers, and new tracking technology in your community usually show up first as a line item on a public meeting agenda, not as news. You don’t have to attend every meeting. Even glancing at the agenda title list once a month catches most of what matters.
Talk to the people around you about what you learn. None of this requires becoming an expert. It requires enough people noticing and asking questions that companies and local governments know they’re being watched too.
QR codes are not automatically safe
QR codes became part of everyday life during COVID, restaurant menus, check-ins, payment kiosks, and most people never stopped to question them since they became so normal so fast. That habit is now being used against people. Scanning a QR code is exactly like clicking a link, except you can’t see where it leads before you tap it, which is exactly why scammers like it.
Be extra cautious with QR codes on anything unexpected. A package you didn’t order showing up with a QR code asking you to “register your gift” or “identify the sender” is a scam. A parking meter or event sign with a code that looks slightly crooked or like a sticker placed over the original is a scam, real ones are usually printed directly on the sign. A text message about a traffic ticket, toll violation, or court case with a QR code attached is a scam, no government agency issues fines this way.
If you scan one, check the web address before you type anything. After scanning, your phone will show you a preview of the website address before it opens. Read it. If it looks like a string of random letters and numbers instead of a company’s real name, or the spelling is slightly off, close it and don’t go further.
When in doubt, don’t scan. If a restaurant only offers a QR code menu, you can ask staff for a paper one or ask them to read you the specials instead. There’s no situation where skipping a QR code costs you more than a moment of inconvenience.
What you post is far less private than it feels
Sharing something with “friends only” feels like talking in your living room. It isn’t. It’s closer to handing a flyer to everyone in that room and trusting every single one of them never to photograph it, forward it, or repeat it to someone else, forever.
Assume anything you post could be seen by someone outside your friend list. Screenshots bypass every privacy setting instantly. A friend can reshare, a friend-of-a-friend can see a comment thread, and many platforms show content more widely than people expect once it gets enough engagement, regardless of the original privacy setting.
Know that your public posts can be used to train AI systems. Several major platforms have changed their terms over the past few years to allow public posts, photos, and comments to be used for training AI models, not just shown to other users. Check your platform’s privacy settings for anything labeled “AI training” or “data use for AI” and opt out if the option exists.
Think about what a stranger could learn from a single post. A photo in front of your house shows your address to anyone who looks closely. A “we’re on vacation” post tells people your home is empty right now. None of this means stop sharing your life. It means pausing for one extra second before you post anything that reveals a location, a routine, or a moment when you’re not home.
Phone calls and texts that create urgency are almost always fake
Scammers have gotten good at one specific trick: making you feel like you have to act immediately, before you have time to think it through or check with anyone.
Don’t answer calls from numbers you don’t recognize. Answering, even if you say nothing or hang up right away, confirms to a robocall system that your number is live and reaches a real person. That gets your number flagged and shared to other scam operations, which usually means more calls afterward, not fewer. Let unknown numbers go to voicemail. If it’s real and important, they’ll leave a message, and you can call back on your own terms.
“Your insurance is about to be canceled, click here” is a scam. Real insurance companies do not cancel your policy by text message with a link. If you’re worried it might be real, don’t click anything in the message. Call your insurance company directly using the number on your card or your last bill, not a number provided in the text.
“Your USPS package needs address confirmation, click here” is almost always a scam. The real Postal Service does not text you links asking you to confirm delivery details or pay a redelivery fee. If you’re expecting a package, check its status directly on usps.com or the shipping company’s official app instead of tapping a link in a text.
Slow down anytime a message tells you to act fast. Real organizations, banks, insurance companies, the government, give you time and multiple ways to reach them. A message demanding you click a link “within 24 hours” or “immediately” is designed to stop you from thinking clearly. That pressure is the scam, not just the link.
If you’re ever unsure, contact the company yourself using a number or website you already know is real. Not the one in the message. Look up the company’s number independently, through a bill, a card, or a quick search, and call them directly to ask if the message was legitimate.
If you want to understand the bigger picture behind any of this, the rest of this blog covers specific companies and stories in more depth: license plate cameras, grocery store pricing algorithms, and the data centers and water projects reshaping Texas right now. This page is the starting point. The other posts are where you go once you want the full story.