Practical guides to protecting your privacy online, plain-English coverage of the laws and news that affect it, and tools that show you exactly what your browser leaks. No trackers. No ads that spy.https://preservingprivacy.comen-us1440Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://preservingprivacy.com/news/california-drop-data-broker-deletionhttps://preservingprivacy.com/news/california-drop-data-broker-deletionA new state platform called DROP lets Californians send a single deletion request to every registered data broker at once — and from August 1, brokers legally have to act on it. Here's how to use it, and what to do if you live somewhere else.Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTNewsdata-brokersprivacy-rightsstatesopt-outhttps://preservingprivacy.com/news/license-plate-reader-pushbackhttps://preservingprivacy.com/news/license-plate-reader-pushbackA nationwide network of cameras logs where your car goes and feeds it into a searchable police database. In 2026, a grassroots mapping campaign is helping communities pull the plug — and winning.Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTNewssurveillancelocationcommunityeffhttps://preservingprivacy.com/news/24-billion-credentials-leakhttps://preservingprivacy.com/news/24-billion-credentials-leakA misconfigured database spilled a record 24 billion username-and-password records in June 2026. You almost certainly have credentials in a dump like this — here's how to check and what to actually do about it.Sun, 28 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTNewsbreachespasswordsaccountshttps://preservingprivacy.com/news/fisa-702-lapsedhttps://preservingprivacy.com/news/fisa-702-lapsedThe government's most sweeping warrantless surveillance authority expired in June 2026 after Congress deadlocked. Here's what Section 702 does, why it lapsed, and the uncomfortable reason the spying doesn't simply stop.Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTNewssurveillancegovernmentfisaencryptionhttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/remove-yourself-from-data-brokershttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/remove-yourself-from-data-brokersData brokers sell your home address, phone number, relatives, and income to anyone who pays. Here's how to opt out of the biggest ones yourself, for free, broker by broker — and how to decide whether a paid removal service is worth it.Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuideData Brokershttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/home-wifi-router-privacyhttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/home-wifi-router-privacyYour router is the front door to everything you do online, and it usually ships wide open. Here's how to lock it down, stop your ISP from snooping, and keep smart-home gadgets from spying on the rest of your network.Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuideNetworkhttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/scrub-photo-metadatahttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/scrub-photo-metadataEvery photo you post can carry the exact GPS coordinates where it was taken, your device details, and a timestamp. Here's what's hidden in your images and how to strip it before you share.Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuidePhonehttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/password-managers-and-passkeyshttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/password-managers-and-passkeysReused passwords are the single most common way accounts get taken over. A password manager fixes that in half an hour, and passkeys make some logins un-phishable. Here's the no-jargon setup.Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuideAccountshttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/phone-privacy-audithttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/phone-privacy-auditYour phone knows more about you than any other device you own. This 30-minute audit walks through the exact iOS and Android settings that stop apps from tracking your location, mining your data, and feeding the ad networks.Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuidePhonehttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/email-aliaseshttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/email-aliasesHanding your real email to every store, app, and newsletter is how spam, tracking, and breach fallout find you. Email aliases fix it in about twenty minutes — here's how they work and how to set them up.Thu, 02 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuideAccountshttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/de-google-your-lifehttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/de-google-your-lifeYou don't have to quit Google cold turkey. Here are the swaps that buy the most privacy for the least disruption — ranked — so you can stop wherever the effort stops being worth it.Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuideAccountshttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/browser-hardeninghttps://preservingprivacy.com/guides/browser-hardeningThe browser settings and one extension that actually reduce tracking — plus the "privacy" tweaks that are pure placebo. A no-nonsense setup for Firefox and Brave.Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuideBrowser