Data and privacy: How to defend yours in 2026
TLDR: I have read some articles that in China they might be using some technological tools to do predictive policing, track citizens and in some cases: flag “political risks” before they act. It feels like Minority Report (2002). While this specific level of state-run predictive policing isn’t fully active in Western democracies yet… We must stay vigilant!
How does that work?
The system connects everything. It tracks your GPS location, facial recognition cameras, chats and phone records. AI analyzes this data to predict your behavior. If you walk near a protest or talk to activists, you are flagged.
They call it predictive policing or social credit. It is a major concern, and we need to adapt.
How can you start protecting yourself?
- Use a VPN: This hides your traffic. Recommendation: NordVPN.
- Switch browsers: A VPN is useless if cookies and trackers leak your data. Use a browser that blocks them. Recommendation: Brave.
- Secure your accounts: Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), unique passwords and a password manager. Look into YubiKeys. Recommendation: Bitwarden.
- Encrypt your chats: Ensure your messaging apps use end-to-end encryption. Avoid standard cellular calls when possible. Recommendation: Signal.
- Watch your email: If you want extreme privacy, look into a secure provider and, for the ultimate tech-savvy user, hosting your own email server. Recommendation: Proton Mail.
- Be careful with your use of AI (LLMs): These tools train on your data so, do not upload photos or private text. Look into local AI models instead.
- Change your search engine: Stop using engines that track your history. Recommendation: DuckDuckGo (but there are many others).
There is plenty more to share, but let us start with these basics. Stay safe out there!