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I spent 7 days on a data detox – here's what I learned
It's been about three years since I started writing about the privacy risks of being online. Day in and day out, I dig into cyberattacks, Big Tech's privacy violations, and the security tools that are supposed to keep us all safe.
I can confidently say that my awareness of digital privacy is way above the average. I know the risks and what I must do to protect myself. The question is, am I good at following my advice? Is it that easy to minimize the personal data we all share online?
To find out, I decided to go on a 7-day digital data detox to understand what it looks like. Spoiler alert – it wasn't always easy.
1. De-Googled my life
My digital privacy hypocrisy hit me straight in the face on day one. Despite knowing Google's data obsession, my Gmail account was still my main door to the internet. The solution? De-Google my life.
Firstly I decided to switch to one of the most secure email services available to ensure protection against third-party access and more. I already had a Proton Mail account which I generally use for communications that need an extra layer of security. But, hey, do not all my emails deserve the same treatment?
Proton makes switching all your messages, contacts, and calendar appointments from Gmail super easy and straightforward. The provider also offers the option to automatically forward all future emails from Gmail to your Proton inbox with a click, meaning I won't need to open Gmail ever again.
Exporting my Google Drive to Proton's encrypted storage was slightly more complicated as the process required more steps. Proton's tutorial, however, was easy to follow. All in all, it was worth the hassle knowing all my files are now encrypted and secure.
If you didn’t know already, now you do – it’s Data Privacy Week (January 27 to 31)! The brainchild of the National Cybersecurity Alliance, it aims to arm you with everything you need to spot and avoid the biggest risks to your data privacy and “Take control of your data”.
Proton doesn't offer a privacy-first alternative to Google Photos (yet?) meaning I had to manually download my photos on there for later, securing them on its encrypted cloud storage. The success of Google equivalents such as Proton Docs makes me hope a solution is down the line. If you hadn't guessed, I said farewell to Google Docs as well.
With all sides of my Gmail account safe and encrypted, there was one last thing to do, split ways from Google Chrome, for good.
My research on the most private and secure web browsers led me to Brave and Mozilla Firefox. I went with the latter as it uses its own Gecko engine, while Brave is based on Chromium. De-Google means everything, I couldn't risk it.
Fully open-source, Firefox boasts customizations that allow you to choose your level of privacy. While it automatically blocks malware and browser fingerprinting, it does not do that with ads, unlike Brave. After installation, however, it suggests downloading browser extensions like PrivacyBadger for exactly that.
I couldn't hope for a smoother experience switching my digital life from Google Chrome to Firefox. Just download the app on your device and follow the instructions, it takes less than brewing a coffee doing it all!
2. Encrypt, everything
Reveling in the first step into my digital data detox, the next move was securing my internet connections. I knew the tool for the job – a virtual private network (VPN).
A VPN is security software that encrypts all the data leaving your device when you browse the web. It scrambles the communications into an unreadable form to prevent third parties from accessing their content. At the same time, the VPN also masks your real IP address for extra security.
For a week, I alternated between some of TechRadar's best VPN picks, namely ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, and Proton VPN. I admit, for the most part, I forgot to have the VPN on all the time – especially when using my smartphone.
That said, on desktop, I had a few instances where I couldn’t access some web pages. Likely because these websites detected I was using a VPN, meaning I had to either switch VPN protocol or provider.
While it didn't happen often and bypassing the issue was very easy, such an incident may push a user to disconnect the VPN and browse without protection. At least, in the past, I may have done exactly that.
3. My privacy, my choices
With my emails, files, meetings, and even internet connections encrypted, I was browsing with armor. There was just a problem now – the data I willingly shared online.
If you live in a country with GDPR or similar data protection rules, you'll know the annoying cookie pop-up that appears every time you visit a website. That is how we can exercise our right to privacy and opt out of invasive data tracking.
Clicking "enable necessary cookies only" for every web page you enter can be a pain. However, this minimizes the chances of advertising companies profiting from your data by building your digital persona.
What I found very disappointing, however, was coming across a privacy paywall. Some companies in the EU and UK employ the so-called 'Pay or Consent' or 'Pay or OK' model, asking for a fee from users seeking to opt out of data sharing and personalized ads.
In my 7-day detox, at least 7 times I had to leave sites (mostly news publications) I needed for work and look for alternative sources – de facto losing time to exercise what is supposed to be my GDPR rights. This made me wonder how many people would do that, and how often I've given away my data for convenience or necessity.
4. Smartphone security – always room to improve
Securing my smartphone was the next thing to do to minimize the data I shared with third parties.
Despite still being an avid Gmail user before this data detox week, I already followed most digital hygiene practices, or so I thought.
On reviewing my iPhone's privacy settings and app permissions, I was on top of my game, as I should have been.
I found some inessential permissions I didn’t grant by heading to Settings and tapping Privacy & Security. These included granting full access to contact lists and photos to Goodreads. I then turned on the App Privacy Report option to help me stay on top of granted permissions.
My most shocking discovery was the number of applications I haven't used for years, sitting on my phone with the potential to make me vulnerable. Seventeen apps, all of which have since been removed to avoid the risk.
5. Make it tougher
Last, but certainly not least, I needed to secure perhaps the most important part of my digital life – my online accounts.
To do that, I turned to a security software that does this within a few clicks. A reliable password manager not only stores and protects all your login details, but also helps you generate customizable strong combinations while notifying you when passwords become vulnerable or compromised.
Already having a Proton account, it made sense for me to choose Proton Pass. The provider made the process straightforward. However, in my case, not having the password syncing option enabled on my Google Chrome password manager forced me to do this process manually – my bad.
Bottom line
After living a week on a restricted data-sharing regime, I won't go back. I feel more secure and confident when I browse the web knowing that I did everything to reduce my digital footprints. I'm sure I'll see further benefits of this over time too.
There's certainly more I can do – such as using a data removal service to delete all the data I willingly (and otherwise) shared all these years. But this is a marathon, not a sprint.
Switching to privacy-first products seems daunting – I postponed it myself for a while – but this experience showed me how easy it was to do in under an hour.
I also realized that, while I cannot do anything to halt companies from enforcing privacy paywalls in their content, I can still choose not to give up my privacy. It would take time to adjust, but it's worth it.
