Digital safety and privacy
Your phone knows where you sleep, who you talk to and where you are right now. Digital safety is making sure that information goes only where you choose. Most of it is settings you change once: two-factor sign-in, a password manager, a location sharing check, and locked-down social profiles.
This category walks through those settings in plain steps, plus the harder moments: spotting a romance or job scam, recovering a hacked account, checking for an unknown tracker following you, and changing what needs changing on your phone after a breakup. Most of these take about fifteen minutes and need nothing but the phone in your hand.
One rule runs through every page. If you think someone is monitoring your phone, plan before you remove anything, because removing monitoring software can alert the person who installed it. Contact a domestic violence hotline first; their advocates help with technology safety planning. These guides never cover accessing someone else's device or getting back at anyone.
0 of 10 marked learned.
The digital privacy checklist
What each skill is for
- How to set up two-factor authentication: A second sign-in step stops most account takeovers even when a password leaks.
- How to use a password manager: One strong habit replaces dozens of reused passwords.
- How to check who can see your location: Forgotten shares, including ones with past partners, are common.
- How to tell if your phone is being tracked: Knowing the warning signs matters, and so does planning before you act.
- How to find an unknown tracker following you: Small tracking tags are cheap, and phones can now scan for unknown ones.
- How to remove location from photos: A photo posted from home can carry your address in its hidden data.
- How to lock down your social media profiles: A few settings decide who sees your posts, photos and phone number.
- How to spot a romance or job scam: Romance and job scams are among the fastest-growing fraud losses.
- How to recover a hacked account: Backup codes and current recovery details make recovery minutes instead of weeks.
- What to change on your phone after a breakup: Shared passwords, family plans and cloud albums keep an ex connected for months.
Last reviewed . First published .