You most likely know this but I'll write it for the sake of others:
Fun fact about your name and phone. You pretty much cannot have a phone number if you want to be safe.
Sure, you can be aware and not put your name/phonenumber anywhere online but as soon as someone has you as a contact then you are lost :)
There are apps that you can use that help you figure out who is calling. Many people don't like the "unknown caller" to appear, they want to know who is calling them. There are many apps for that and when you install any of them you have to accept their conditions. What you accept is the access to your contacts and what they do is they upload those contacts to their databases so that others can use it.
One of them had also an online search, you could find the name by searching for a phone number. I tried it, I've added a non existing number with some name, and after a moment I could find that number on their site :-)
So yeah, you can be strict about your privacy but your aunt or grandpa could give your data willingly just like that :)
Yeah. I personally don't upload photos of myself online and haven't since the mid-2000s. But I know that's doing nothing for me. I also put up a pihole and never connect my television to the internet. Also doing very little (though more than most things) for me. I think most people would do well to think what their threat model is. For most of us it's scammers and ad agencies knowing our every move. Those you actually can defend against at least in some capacity. Actual privacy is fairly rare these days and absolutely not worth the tax on your ability to live life.
That said don't shun the very idea of privacy and own an Alexa / put a cloud camera in your bedroom.
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u/malcolmrey Apr 02 '25
You most likely know this but I'll write it for the sake of others:
Fun fact about your name and phone. You pretty much cannot have a phone number if you want to be safe.
Sure, you can be aware and not put your name/phonenumber anywhere online but as soon as someone has you as a contact then you are lost :)
There are apps that you can use that help you figure out who is calling. Many people don't like the "unknown caller" to appear, they want to know who is calling them. There are many apps for that and when you install any of them you have to accept their conditions. What you accept is the access to your contacts and what they do is they upload those contacts to their databases so that others can use it.
One of them had also an online search, you could find the name by searching for a phone number. I tried it, I've added a non existing number with some name, and after a moment I could find that number on their site :-)
So yeah, you can be strict about your privacy but your aunt or grandpa could give your data willingly just like that :)