What are the key digital hygiene practices for protecting your online privacy?

Key digital hygiene practices include minimizing your digital footprint, using privacy-focused tools, regularly auditing your online presence, and compartmentalizing your digital identities.

Digital hygiene best practices:

• Minimize sharing — Share only what's necessary; avoid oversharing personal details, locations, and routines
• Strip metadata — Remove EXIF data from photos before uploading (use ExifTool or MAT2)
• Use strong, unique passwords — Different passwords for every service, managed with a password manager
• Compartmentalize identities — Separate usernames, email addresses, and personas for different contexts (work, personal, gaming, etc.)
• Review privacy settings — Regularly audit and restrict privacy settings on all platforms
• Search for yourself — Periodically perform self-OSINT to discover what's publicly available about you
• Be cautious with metadata-rich content — Documents, photos, and even PDF files can contain hidden metadata

Tip: Think of digital hygiene like physical hygiene — it's not a one-time event but an ongoing practice. Set a quarterly reminder to audit your online presence.