We Give You Permission to Take These Personal Privacy Steps

The privacy community recognized Data Privacy Day on January 28^th. Here at Privacy Ref, every day is Data Privacy Day. We promote privacy awareness and assist our clients from small to large businesses in meeting their obligations and following best practices five days a week.

On the other two days, we are simply consumers of information who interact with the internet and share our personal information as we engage. Recent changes in the US privacy landscape such as the rescinding of Executive Order 14110, President Biden’s executive order on artificial intelligence, make us uncertain for the future both as privacy professionals and consumers. At the same time, there has been positive movement at the FTC with the new “Click to Cancel” Rule.

With all of this in mind, we see the responsibility still falling on consumers to keep themselves educated and navigate their privacy rights. We give you permission to take these steps to protect your personal information.

Keep track of what you share

In 2025, be selective about what personal information you choose to share and with whom you choose to share it. Reading the privacy notice or cookie pop-up will help you understand what personal information is being shared, and with whom, and then as a consumer you can stand by the choices that you make.

Accept cookies if you like

Cookies are not a dirty word in the privacy business. From the right website or company, you may want personalized advertisements. It all depends on your purpose and preferences. Not all cookies need to be avoided—but when you do want to opt out, the simplest way that doesn’t change your browser preference is installing a browser extension such as AdGuard, uBlock Origin, Ghostery, or Privacy Badger.

Review your phone settings

You may be sharing more personal information than you think. There are certain applications on your phone where it makes sense to share your location—like Uber Eats or Starbucks—but they don’t need to know your location at all times. For Apple phones, the Privacy & Security section of Settings is where to find both Location Sharing and Tracking for all of your applications for review, or you could turn on App Privacy Report which automatically reviews your privacy settings. For Android phones, go to Settings and App permissions.

Exercise your privacy rights

As more state comprehensive privacy laws go into effect, even more US consumers residing in those states gain privacy rights. However, there are some rights guaranteed to all consumers, and other choices to be made about how your personal information is used.

Go on an unsubscribe spree

CAN-SPAM permits all US consumers the ability to unsubscribe from unwanted direct marketing emails. Regularly unsubscribing from email lists that you probably never wanted to be on in the first place is a good privacy habit to develop. Don’t forget to also unsubscribe to text message lists on your phone. You can unsubscribe to most of these by replying STOP.

Cancel unwanted memberships

The FTC’s Click to Cancel Rule requires applicable organizations to make it as easy to cancel negative option services as it is to sign up for them and to cease all payments as soon as cancellation is received. If you’re attempting to cancel and finding it too difficult, reports may be made to the FTC.