The ads know too much
Something you mentioned once follows you around and you do not know how.
Courses
Start with three things you can do today
How to protect your digital privacy
Know what happens to your information online.
Ask what information a service collects, why it needs it, who receives it and what choices you have. Account security and privacy overlap but are different questions. The permission example below makes one practical tradeoff explicit.
Want new features first?
A starting goal
I want to understand what happens to my information online. Explain tracking, data sharing, and common privacy tradeoffs so I can make more informed digital choices.
Change any word so it fits your situation. The course is built from what you type and a few setup questions.
Start today
Three things you can do before the course exists.
Useful on their own. The course is for when you want the whole skill, not just the first move.
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Connect a permission to a feature
Original hypothetical example: a weather app offers a forecast after you type a city but also requests continuous precise location. Compare what you need with the requested access. A city forecast and automatic alerts based on your location are different features, not interchangeable promises.
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Check before changing it
Read the current permission explanation and privacy notice. If manual city entry serves your purpose, consider declining unnecessary location access and test whether the feature still works. Settings vary by device and service; this example does not claim every permission can be removed without a tradeoff.
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State what the change does not prove
A location setting alone does not describe account data, website tracking, retention or sharing. Review those separately. Strong account protection helps resist unauthorized access, but does not by itself control how a service is allowed to use information you provide.
Sources: FTC: tracking, app permissions and privacy choices. Practical examples are starting points, not promised results.
- Best for
- AI & technology
- Prerequisites
- None. Bring the situation you have.
- Course length
- 7 to 30 lessons
- Pace
- Yours. One lesson at a time, as often as you like.
- Format
- Read it, or play the audio
- Access
- Available on the App Store and Google Play, with an optional early testing list
Before the course is built
Setup asks about your situation first.
Lesson 1 opens on the moment you describe, and the examples use your role. For this request, expect questions like these.
- What concerns you most: advertising tracking, data breaches, what companies know, or what other people can see?
- Do you want to change your habits, or mainly understand the picture?
- Which devices and services do you use most?
Right for now
If any of this sounds familiar, start here.
Privacy settings baffle you
Every service has forty toggles and you have never touched them.
You have given up
It feels like everyone has everything already, so why bother.
Course arc
Where the course goes, in order.
Cadence writes the lessons for you, so the exact path follows your answers. This is the ground a course built from this sentence covers.
01 / 06What is collected
Data you give, data that is observed, and data that is inferred about you.
How tracking works
Identifiers, cookies and the advertising system behind them.
Where it goes
Sharing, brokers and breaches, and what each one risks.
The tradeoffs
Convenience, cost and personalization, weighed honestly.
Choices that matter
Matching a control to the data or access you intend to limit.
Your own privacy posture
Deciding what you care about and acting on that, not on fear.
What changes
What you will be able to do, and what you will stop believing.
You will be able to
Explain how tracking works
Describe cookies, identifiers and data brokers in plain terms.
Weigh the tradeoffs
Judge what you get for what you give, service by service.
Make deliberate choices
Change the settings and habits that matter most to you, and leave the rest.
Ideas this course corrects
One privacy toggle controls all collection
Different data types and services may have separate controls and limits.
Existing exposure makes future choices pointless
You may still reduce unnecessary future sharing, although a setting cannot guarantee retrieval or deletion of information already shared.
Course questions
What to know before you start.
How to protect your digital privacy: what can I do today?
Connect a permission to a feature. Original hypothetical example: a weather app offers a forecast after you type a city but also requests continuous precise location. Compare what you need with the requested access. A city forecast and automatic alerts based on your location are different features, not interchangeable promises. Check before changing it. Read the current permission explanation and privacy notice. If manual city entry serves your purpose, consider declining unnecessary location access and test whether the feature still works. Settings vary by device and service; this example does not claim every permission can be removed without a tradeoff. State what the change does not prove. A location setting alone does not describe account data, website tracking, retention or sharing. Review those separately. Strong account protection helps resist unauthorized access, but does not by itself control how a service is allowed to use information you provide.
Is this a fixed course?
No. Cadence builds the course when you type the sentence and answer a few setup questions, so the lessons follow your situation. This page describes what a course built from this request covers. You see the whole path before Lesson 1.
Who is this course for?
Ask what information a service collects, why it needs it, who receives it and what choices you have. Account security and privacy overlap but are different questions. The permission example below makes one practical tradeoff explicit. It sits under AI & technology in the Work & ambitions part of the library.
Do I need any prior experience?
No. Setup asks what you already know and where you want to use it, and the course starts from there. Bring a real situation if you have one; the examples are built around it.
How long does it take?
Most courses run 7 to 30 lessons. The course length is sized to what you asked for. You set the pace: one lesson at a time, as often as you like. Lessons can be read or played as audio.
Does this course award a certificate or degree?
No. Cadence is for practical self-learning and does not award accredited degrees or professional certification.
Start today
Type it, answer a few questions, open Lesson 1.
A starting goal
I want to understand what happens to my information online. Explain tracking, data sharing, and common privacy tradeoffs so I can make more informed digital choices.
Want new features first?