The real problem, in my mind, is not only is our privacy bring invaded to a degree our founding fathers could never have envisioned but the information is most likely being used to aid the enemy by the current administration. That and the fact that it will be most likely used out of the constraints of the law and as a tool to blackmail and control us to bend to the will of a tyrannical government that has gone out of control.
Welcome to my world!
So, what to do what to do ~
(1) Separate work from play. Don't socialize with the people you work with. That breaks symmetry and all those koinkydinks that could entrap you in nonsense not of your own making.
(2) Get a pen name early. Doesn't matter if everybody knows who you are, or what your pen name might be ~ make sure that 100% of everything you write outside of work is associated only with your pen name. That also breaks symmetry and sticks you into the 5th dimension. If others want to try to drag you out, just ignore them.
(3) Get one phone number and keep it as long as you can. Two numbers are great, three extraordinarily convenient, and dozens of them are simply marvelous but you only 'need' one ~ stick with that to the degree that number is associated with only one address and one name. When you move, keep your phone number.
(4) Don't give the post office any forwarding orders! They'll find you ~ the folks who want to send you a bill can and will do so using their own resources ~ so what that Master Card knows where you live ~ they will anyway, but that clerk working in the data processing unit managing electronic forwarding orders won't!
(5) Always make sure that at the end of the year you OWE taxes! You might ask why you want to give up your refunds, but the money is better in your account than theirs, plus you are going to end up sending your return to the least used address IRS has. If what you owe is within 10% of what you've paid, there's not going to be a penalty, or if there is, it's minimal. What this will do is REDUCE the chance that you're going to be audited. The decision for auditing is apparently made on the amounts you paid ~ not what you finally owe. Unless you claim EITC, that should drop you way below the 1% level. If you earn $10 million or more you jump to 9%. If you claim EITC you jump to a 30% chance!
(6) FInd out who your neighbors are. They are the folks who will inform on you in a heartbeat ~ it'll be negative if they have no idea who you are. It will be less so if they know you. Besides, some of them are cops. Allay their suspicions about you (note; all cops are paranoid) by meeting them first ~ then you control the storyline, not the folks who don't like you.
(7) Always live near a fire department station or firehouse. That way when your house burns it won't burn down all the way. Oh, is your house going to burn down? There's a chance ~ a real chance, but do you want folks to be able to go paw through your safe and gun cabinets? Ah, ha! No, you don't want that so make sure any fire is minimal in its impact.
(8) Vary your routes to and from work. Sounds cloak and daggerish ~ and it is, but you can have people following you ~ may be debt collectors, robbers, loan officers, cops, crazy people ~ this trick should be used often. Keeps them on their toes, and with that you improve your security on the mean streets. They gotta' expect you to change routes or modes of travel, else they won't respond, and there you are in a world full of street people who look at you as little more than an economic opportunity.
(9) If you answer the phone do so aggressively ~ give your name and say 'How may i help you' ~ put them on the defensive instantly.
I"m sure there are numerous other rules on how to lead a private life in what your keepers imagine is a public way. Looks like everybody is going to need to figure them out now.