Have you noticed ads online that seem to “fit” you mysteriously well? It’s no surprise, since many advertisers already know what you do on the Internet. Using this information, they can craft subtle messaging campaigns to get you to buy certain products – or even influence your thoughts and behaviors.

Governments increasingly have the capacity and intention of tracking everything you do online. You may be in a country where this tracking is relatively benign today. But future political changes might turn this wealth of information into a useful weapon against you – putting you, your family or business in danger.

By tracking what you do online and reading unencrypted transmissions, bad actors can piece together snippets of information about you, creating a profile of who you are in the real world. The more information they have, the easier it is to impersonate you, guess your passwords and security questions, and steal your financial information to make transactions with your money.