Tech companies do know more about you than you know yourself. If that is unsettling, good, keep reading. These are practical ways to take back some control without turning it into a full-time project.

Email (Gmail)

Your email address is your primary digital identifier. How you manage it determines a lot of what ends up in your inbox and what gets exposed when a service has a breach.

Plus Sign Possibilities

Gmail’s + feature lets you create unlimited variations of your address without creating new accounts:

Example: if your email is username@gmail.com, you can use:

• username+work@gmail.com for professional correspondence
• username+shopping@gmail.com for online retail accounts

This helps you:

• Create filters automatically based on the tag
• Identify which services sold or leaked your email address
• Keep different contexts separate without managing multiple inboxes

Labels

Labels in Gmail do more than color-code your inbox. Combined with filters, they become an automated sorting system.

Useful patterns:

• Nested labels for hierarchical organization (e.g., Work/Receipts, Work/HR)
• Automatic labeling using filters based on sender or subject
• Using labels in search queries: label:work/receipts from:company

Unsubscribe

Regularly unsubscribing beats building elaborate filter systems. Filters hide noise, unsubscribing removes it.

A few notes:

• Gmail’s built-in unsubscribe link (shown at the top of promotional emails) is the safest option
• Be cautious with unsubscribe links in emails from senders you do not recognize; some are phishing attempts
• Services like Unroll.me exist for bulk management, but they do read your email to work, so consider whether that is an acceptable trade

Account Separation

Using the same email for everything means one breach gives attackers access to your entire digital life.

Practical separation:

• One address for personal correspondence with people you know
• One address for online services and shopping
• Disposable addresses (e.g., via SimpleLogin or a second Gmail account) for one-time signups

Security

The basics, in rough order of impact:

• Enable two-factor authentication on every account that supports it. Use an authenticator app, not SMS, for anything important.
• Use physical security keys for accounts like your primary email and any financial services
• Review connected apps periodically in your Google account settings. Remove anything you no longer use.
• Set up recovery options: backup email and phone number

Forward Account

One pattern that works well for mobile notifications: a separate account you forward non-sensitive email to. You can check notifications there without exposing your primary address to every app you install.

Keep the forwarding rules narrow. Forwarding everything defeats the purpose.

Social Presence

What shows up when someone searches your name is not entirely in your control, but it is worth being deliberate about.

Usernames

Consistent usernames across platforms make it easier for people who should find you to do so. Variations work well for accounts you want to keep separate from your professional identity.

The tradeoff is real: a consistent username makes you more searchable, which is good for professional networking and bad for anything you want to keep private.

Linktree

Linktree gives you one URL to share that points to everything else. Useful for situations where you want to give someone access to your profiles without a long list.

The prioritization matters more than the design. Put the link most relevant to your current goals at the top. A job seeker and someone promoting a side project should have different orderings.

Carrd.co

Carrd offers more customization than Linktree if you want something that looks like a personal page rather than a list. Supports custom domains, which gives it a more professional appearance.

The same principle applies: a clear call to action based on what you actually want people to do when they land there.