1 use different search engines

Google stores your information and creates a tracking profile. Use different search engines, such as DuckDuckGo, MetaGer, Gexsi, Qwant, Startpage or Ecosia. Safety, privacy and no tracking are of primary importance to those search engines.

2 disable personalised ads for apps

Android:
Settings → Google → Ads → Select 'Opt out of Ads'

iOS:
Settings → Privacy → Advertising → Enable 'Limit Ad Tracking'.

3 delete cookies

Cookies are files stored by web sites which contain information such as personal page settings.

Deleting cookies on a computer:
→ Chrome/Firefox/MS Edge: Ctrl+Shift+Del
→ Safari: Menu → preferences → Privacy → ‘Block All Cookies’

Deleting cookies on an iPhone using Safari:
Settings → Safari → 'Block All Cookies'

Deleting cookies on an Android phone using the standard browser:
Settings → Privacy → Clear Browsing Data → Cookies and Site Data

4 surf the web anonymously

Private browsing prevents your browser history from being stored, thus making your online movements untraceable. Also, search box entries, passwords, downloads and – most notably – cookies are not stored on your device. However, internet providers and websites can still track your activity.

How to open a private window on an iPhone:
Safari → tab overview → Private → Done

How to open a private window on an Android phone:
Google Chrome → three-dot menu → New incognito tab

5 clear the cache

The cache is the buffer memory on a PC. If you want to erase your movements in your web browser, you should clear it regularly.

Clear the cache on a computer:
→ Chrome/Firefox/MS Edge: Ctrl+Shift+Del
→ Safari: Alt+Cmd+E

Clear the cache on an iPhone using Safari:
Settings → Safari → Clear History and Website Data

Clear the cache on an Android phone using the standard browser:
Settings → Storage → Internal Shared Storage → Cached Data

6 explore alternative apps

Use Forgotify as an alternative to Spotify or YouTube. It will help you discover music that others don’t listen to and that is not classified by the number of clicks.

7 enable the ‘Do not track’ option in your web browser

Tell web sites not to track your web activities: Browser menu → Settings → Privacy → Do not track

8 use anti-tracking software

Browser-Add-Ons like Privacy Badger notify you about trackers and allow you to block them: www.eff.org/privacybadger

9 like inconvenient content

From time to time, you should ‘like’ content that you don’t particularly like. As a matter of fact, in order to trick the algorithm, you sometimes need to put up with disagreeable or offensive comments, contributions and users. In doing so, you are actively countering a selective perception.

10 open up your interests

Another way of broadening your horizon is to watch films and documentaries on Netflix or YouTube that you would not normally watch.