7 Practical Ways to Shrink Your Digital Footprint in 2026
The average internet user now leaks more personal data in a single day of routine browsing than most people disclosed in a decade two generations ago. Ad networks track page views, data brokers aggregate public records into sellable dossiers, and AI systems ingest everything from social posts to leaked databases to build inferred profiles of individuals. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has catalogued more than 750 data brokers operating in the United States alone, and industry analysts estimate the broader data-broker economy will grow past half a trillion dollars by the end of the decade.