Opinion by Walt Jimenez
About Me:
College Graduate of Multimedia and Computer Science.
Multiple Cisco Systems Certifications.
IQ of 127.
31 years of I.T. experience since '95.
26 years of professional experience.
Been interested in computers since before Google (2004).
4 year student of Muay Thai kickboxing and martial arts.
Lived 3 doors down from a Canadian Military base for my first 20 years of life.
A Video Gamer for life.
Let's start with susceptibility. You might not know how badly your personal information has been spread maliciously to advertising bots, or if it is on the more evil side of the internet like "The Dark Web". You might have some hints, like receiving too much junk e-mails (spam) or receiving too many unknown and unsolicited phone calls from numbers that aren't in your contact list.
What is the Dark Web ? It is not anything good. It is not accessible by normal means, and conceals a lot of illegal activity including illegal personal information leaks, illegal identity theft scams, illegal human trafficking, illegal pedophilia, illegal drug commerce, and illegal firearms commerce. It is a very dark and dangerous place that serves criminal activities.
One way that you used to be able to check if your information was circulating on the Dark Web was through Google Dark Web Monitoring which used to be available between March 2023, and January 15th, 2026. Google shut down that fork this year.
[#1 Security Tool = Have I Been Pwned]
The new way that you can check if your information has been leaked, is through a different tool and website called Have I Been Pwned (https://haveibeenpwned.com/). When I compared it previously to Google Dark Web Monitoring, it came up with the exact same results. Once you input your email address, you might be shocked at the size of the list that it produces.
Many apps and websites from your smartphone are hackable and have already been exploited by hackers. They get access to your personal information from when you sign up to use the app or website. It might include your email address, your username, and your password. Depending on the app, they may also have access to your home address, your phone number, and other important information like payment details and credit card information.
Where do you go from here? Delete the app... but not yet. Open and explore the app or associated website and delete your account immediately. Once your account is gone, then go ahead and delete the app. Deleting the app without deleting your account does not delete the information that is stored on the app's web servers. You must go into each one, and carefully get rid of your information. If you only delete the app, you aren't solving the problem.
The easiest most obvious solutions are to change your email address and
change your phone number but let's dive deeper than that. Even if it sounds like an inconvenience, it might be necessary to help minimize your digital footprint.
There are a
number of other things that you can do, to secure your online digital
footprint and some of those solutions are already outlined in some of my
other Blog entries. I will link to them in this article. If you are one
of those TLDR (Too Long, Didn't Read) types of individuals, you are
leaving yourself open to security risks. My entries aren't even that
long, and I try to be as concise and to-the-point as possible.
[Stop using Social Media]
I think many people are going to struggle with this one. Social Media apps are the biggest thing that is stealing your information. Not only that, the large corporations behind them are now analyzing your usage and are feeding it into their Artificial Intelligence. It didn't start out that way, but apps in 2026 are harvesting everything about you so that you are enticed to keep using the app and to boost the hidden micro-economy they have built making you spend more, and making them more wealthy. Apple is especially guilty at doing this. Their products (both hardware and software) are specifically designed to keep you locked into their ecosystem with no easy way of migrating to a different platform. That is not digital freedom, that is electronic slavery.
[Secure your web browsing]
Refer to my previous article here:
https://phreshdigitalarts.blogspot.com/2023/01/6-best-tips-for-online-browsing.html
[Secure your Google Account]
Refer to my previous post here:
https://phreshdigitalarts.blogspot.com/2025/11/block-google-ai-from-stealing-your-data.html
and
https://phreshdigitalarts.blogspot.com/2025/12/take-back-full-control-of-your-google.html
You can also opt to use a different cloud email service entirely to stop Google from spying on you. The best Gmail alternative I've found is called Proton Mail.
[Use A.I. tools anonymously]
In this day and age, it is almost impossible to not use A.I. to assist us in certain ways. Rather than not using Artificial Intelligence, it is better to use them without traces to your real identity. When you register to use online A.I. tools, use a different email address that makes you more anonymous with no links to real personal information. In my case I use offline A.I. tools as much as possible so that my queries, and activities remain on my own computer and aren't used to further train the online A.I. systems.
[Disable Microsoft's Co-Pilot A.I.]
Refer to my previous post here:
https://phreshdigitalarts.blogspot.com/2025/12/protect-your-privacy-disable-windows-11.html
Alternatively, you can use my advice from the prior paragraph, and just be anonymous by using a different email address while logged into Windows.
[Use Signal for Instant Messaging]
Refer to my previous article here:
https://phreshdigitalarts.blogspot.com/2026/04/why-signal-is-most-secure-messaging-app.html
Instant Messaging [IMs] and Direct Messaging [DMs] are part of our daily lives. Definitely don't use the regular default SMS texting on your phone. Not only is SMS unencrypted, but it can be traced to your specific Mobile Service carrier which makes it easier for hackers or anyone who is trying to track you.
[Rethink Your LinkedIn Profile]
LinkedIn has been hacked and data breached multiple times over many years. The website is not secure. Many people find it useful for business contacts but in my experience, the benefits did not outweigh the consequences. I removed my profile, but if you are not ready to remove your own LinkedIn profile as I did, you can try to sanitize it so that no personal information is included. That sentence in itself sounds counter-intuitive but if your clients know you well, then there are already other ways to connect with people in your industry without sacrificing your identity.
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