Brief Insight
Last Update: October 2026
Primary Topic: Digital Well-Being and Mental Health
Reading time: 5–6 minutes
Audience: Adults · Families · Professionals · Older adults
Focus: Privacy · Autonomy · AI tools · Digital habits
This Brief Insight is for adults, families, professionals, and older adults who use phones, apps, smart devices, and AI tools every day and sometimes wonder where their information goes. Privacy can seem like a technical subject best left to experts. It is also a matter of well-being. Feeling in control of your personal information affects your peace of mind, your relationships, and your sense of who gets to tell your story. A few steady habits can protect far more than any single setting.
At a glance
Privacy is not only about keeping secrets. It is about having a reasonable say over what others collect, keep, and conclude about you. Most information is shared through ordinary activities rather than dramatic breaches. A simple three-step habit of minimizing, adjusting, and reviewing, together with a few well-chosen tools, can restore much of that control without requiring you to give up useful technology.
Why privacy is a well-being issue
Many people carry a low-level sense of being watched. Ads seem to follow conversations, apps ask for access they do not appear to need, and it can be hard to know what has been saved and where. Over time, that uncertainty can add to the stress of an always-connected life.
Privacy also concerns autonomy. When companies combine information from searches, purchases, locations, and app use, they can build detailed profiles and draw conclusions people never intended to share. Stanford researchers offer a simple example: asking an AI chatbot for heart-healthy recipes could lead a system to infer a health condition. That inference could then shape the ads someone sees. Most people would not consider a recipe request a medical disclosure, but the data may be treated as one.
The goal is not to avoid technology or to worry about every click. It is to use technology in a way that leaves you feeling informed and in charge rather than exposed.
Where information leaks in daily life
Phones and apps are the most common source. Many apps request access to location, contacts, the microphone, or photos, and some ask for far more than their purpose requires. A flashlight app has no need for your contacts, and a game does not usually need your precise location.
Smart speakers and connected home devices also collect information, including voice recordings and household routines. Companion apps for these devices may ask to upload your contact list or link other accounts.
AI chatbots raise a newer concern. Because conversations feel personal, people often type in health details, family difficulties, or work information they would not post publicly. A 2025 Stanford study of six major U.S. AI developers found that all six used chat conversations by default to train or improve their models. Some kept this information for long periods, and some allowed selected people to review conversations. Settings and policies continue to change, but the practical lesson holds: think before sharing sensitive details, and check the training and history settings.
Photos can carry hidden information. Many phones attach the time, the device, and the exact location to each picture. When the original file is shared, that location may travel with it.
Loyalty programs, online purchases, and public records also feed a large industry of data brokers. These companies collect, combine, and sell information about people they have no direct relationship with. Their profiles may include addresses, purchase habits, and inferred interests, often without the person's knowledge.
A three-step check: Minimize, Adjust, Review
Minimize. Share only what a tool genuinely needs. If an app works without your location or contacts, decline the request. When a website or chatbot does not need your full name, birth date, or personal story, leave them out. When you share a photo publicly, consider removing its location first. Both iPhone and Android share menus include an option to do this.
Adjust. Spend a few minutes on the settings of the tools you use most. Turn off app permissions you do not use, limit ad tracking on your phone, and review the history and training controls in any AI chatbot you use. Many services let you delete past conversations or use a temporary chat mode. Large platforms also offer built-in privacy reviews. Google's Privacy Checkup, for example, lets you see and limit activity history, location history, and what others can see about you.
Review. Settings change, apps update, and your own needs shift. A review twice a year, perhaps when clocks change in spring and fall, is a manageable rhythm. Delete apps you no longer use, check which services can access your accounts, and look again at the privacy settings of your most-used tools.
Tools that can help
No application guarantees complete privacy, and every tool you add also handles some of your data. Choose established products with clear policies. Several kinds of tools can still make the three-step check easier and more effective.
A password manager creates and stores strong, unique passwords, so one breached account does not open the door to others. Multi-factor authentication, which adds a code, fingerprint, or security key to your password, makes it much harder for someone else to get into your accounts. Turning it on for email, banking, and your phone's main account is one of the most valuable single steps you can take.
Privacy-focused browsers and search engines, such as DuckDuckGo, reduce how much of your browsing is tracked and stored. Email masking features, such as Apple's Hide My Email, create a unique forwarding address for sign-ups, so your real address is not widely spread.
Data broker controls depend on where you live. California residents can now use the state's free Delete Request and Opt-Out Platform, known as DROP, to send a single deletion request to every registered data broker. Residents of other states, including New York, generally must contact brokers one at a time or hire an authorized service. These services vary in cost and effectiveness, so review them carefully before paying.
Special care for sensitive information
Some information deserves extra protection because the consequences of exposure are greater. This includes health and mental health details, financial records, information about children, and anything involving other people.
Professionals have additional obligations. Clinicians, educators, and others who work with confidential information should not enter client, patient, student, or employee details into consumer apps or AI tools unless their organization has approved the tool for that purpose. A consumer chatbot is not a secure place for case notes, even with names removed. Small details can often identify a person.
Respect also extends to people who are not present. A photo of a friend, a screenshot of a group chat, or a story about a family member shares their information too. Asking before posting is a simple courtesy that protects everyone.
Family privacy as a shared value
Families can approach privacy as a shared value rather than a set of rules adults impose. That means being selective about what is posted, reviewing privacy settings together when someone gets a new device or app, and talking openly about how online companies collect and use information. Older children can understand the difference between personal privacy, such as not sharing an address in a chat, and consumer privacy, such as limiting how much a company tracks them. Our Practical Guide, A Parent's First Conversation About a New App, Game, or AI Tool, offers a step-by-step way to begin those conversations.
A question to keep in mind
Before you share something online, with an app, or with an AI tool, pause and ask: "Would I be comfortable if this information were saved, reviewed, or shared beyond this moment?" If the answer is no, consider sharing less, changing a setting, or choosing a different tool.
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A Parent’s First Conversation About a New App, Game, or AI Tool
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Further Resources
Common Sense Media. (2025, July 17, last reviewed). How Can I Protect My Family's Data Privacy? Practical steps for families on reviewing privacy settings, reading privacy policies, managing app permissions, and making privacy a family value.
Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. (2025, October 15). Be Careful What You Tell Your AI Chatbot. A summary of Stanford research on how major AI developers use chat conversations, with guidance on sharing sensitive information and opting out of training.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. (2026). Data Brokers. An explanation of what data brokers do, how they gather information, and how to request deletion, including California's DROP platform and options for residents of other states.
Electronic Frontier Foundation. (n.d.). Surveillance Self-Defense. A nonprofit guide with plain-language basics, tool guides, and steps for keeping your data and communications more secure.
Federal Trade Commission. (2026). Protecting Kids Online. Consumer guidance for families on parental controls, children's privacy rights, phones, games, and new protections against sharing intimate images without consent.