This is the time of year when you will absolutely see self-help articles with intimidating words like “challenge,” “tune up,” and, of course, “resolution.” 

At The Markup, we thought we’d try something different. We know that, right now, many people are feeling anxious about technology (*cough* artificial intelligence) and how fast it’s developing. So we wanted to kick off 2024 together with something calming, practical—and, dare we say, fun. 

At a time when it feels like everything we do is being monitored and our data is no longer our own, we’ve collected more than a dozen tips from our crackerjack team on how you can better shield yourself from privacy and security threats in 2024. We’ll be posting a new one every workday, each directly from a Markup staffer who actually uses the advice in their own life. 

We’re calling it “Gentle January” because there are no strings (or challenges) attached. It begins tomorrow and runs through the end of the month. 

Beyond spouting off our own experiences, we’re also interested in hearing your advice—we know Markup readers are especially privacy conscious and have plenty of their own tips to share. So if you have a minute, we’d love your answer to this question: What is one practical piece of advice on how to maintain your privacy that you actually do yourself? Send an answer we can publish, along with how you’d like to be identified, to tips@themarkup.org. We will highlight some of your tips during the last week or so of Gentle January.

Visit our homepage tomorrow for our first tip, or subscribe to our Klaxon newsletter to get each week’s tips delivered to your inbox on Fridays.