Limit who can see your posts, profile information, and location data.
Mobile apps routinely request more permissions than their function requires. A flashlight app does not need access to your contacts. A game does not need your microphone. These permissions are requested because the data has value — it can be analyzed, sold, or used for targeted advertising.
Conduct a periodic permissions audit: open your phone's settings, review each app's permissions, and revoke anything the app does not genuinely need for its core function. Pay particular attention to location access — switch any "Always On" location permissions to "Only While Using" unless you have a specific reason for always-on.
Social media platforms have extensive privacy settings that most users never configure. Lock your post visibility to friends or followers only, disable face recognition tagging so strangers cannot identify you in photos, and regularly audit which third-party apps have been granted access to your social media account.
Every piece of data collected is data that can be breached, subpoenaed, sold, or analyzed for purposes you did not anticipate when you agreed to the terms of service. Minimizing collection is the most permanent privacy control available — data that is never collected cannot be breached.