Ever had a creepy feeling that your phone is secretly listening to you? Maybe you were just talking to your friend about needing new bed sheets, and suddenly, an ad for bed sheets pops up on your screen. It feels like the advertisers are hiding inside your pocket, right? The truth is actually much scarier than a secret microphone. Your phone isn’t usually recording your voice to sell you things, but if you feel like you are being spied on, that is because you are. The real spies are invisible companies that already know what you want before you even say it out loud.
Think of it like this. The problem isn’t that your phone is recording your voice; the problem is that it is recording every single thing your fingers and eyes do on the internet. Every search you make, every article you stop to read, every person you follow on social media, and every website you quickly click away from is being quietly packaged up and sent to a secret market. The people buying this package are called data brokers. You’ve probably never heard of these companies, but they are the reason you see those weirdly specific ads.
These data brokers are like digital detectives who build a ‘shadow profile’ of you. They start with what they can find online like which websites you visit, what quizzes you take, and what you like on social media. Then, they secretly connect that to what they know about you in the real world: your age, where you live, the kind of car your family drives, and even how often you use a coupon at the grocery store. They mix all these pieces together to create a profile so detailed it predicts your every move.
When advertisers want to sell their bed sheets, they don’t ask to listen to your voice. They go to the data brokers and say, “Show me a list of people who just bought a new mattress, or who visit home décor websites, or who follow certain designers online.” Because your shadow profile is on that list—maybe because you searched for “mattress reviews” last week—the advertisers make a very educated, and very creepy, guess that you might want new bed sheets, too. That is why the ads are so accurate. It is not magic, it is just a massive invasion of your privacy.
But the spying goes beyond just your screen. Did you know your phone is constantly shouting out short, silent radio signals to find nearby Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices? These signals contain a unique ID for your device. Companies and even some businesses can have hidden devices that silently listen for those IDs. This means they can track your device’s physical movement over time. They know if you stopped at the park, if you waited outside a certain shop, or if you were present at a political rally. This lets them track where your body goes in the real world, adding another layer to your shadow profile.
As digital rights activists, we say this system needs to change, because it hurts everyone. Allowing this massive, invisible data collection makes people vulnerable. It means companies can target risky ads like payday loans or addictive gambling to people who are already struggling. It allows certain groups to be secretly excluded from seeing job opportunities or housing ads. Even worse, if there is a data breach, all that private information like your address, your income level, your health-related searches can be put out onto the internet for criminals to buy and misuse.
This gets even more serious when we look at how governments use this data. In many parts of the world, if the police want to track your private life, they are supposed to get a warrant from a judge. But loopholes exist. Sometimes, government agencies can simply buy your location history or your interest profile from these same brokers, completely skipping the legal steps that are supposed to protect you. While the old joke was that everyone had a secret agent assigned to their phone, the modern truth is that your private data is often just for sale to the highest bidder.
This is exactly why we are commemorating Safer Internet Day. It serves as a reminder that true safety is not just about strong passwords; it is about fighting back against a system designed to exploit us.
At Paradigm Initiative, we believe in a dual approach. First, we equip you. We built the Ayeta Toolkit to provide a simple, accessible guide to securing your digital life. But we know that individual tools are not enough—we need structural change. That is why we created the Ripoti platform. Ripoti is not just a reporting tool; it is a launchpad for justice. We do not just collect reports; we act on them. From data breaches to Online Gender-Based Violence (OGBV) and Tech-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV), we have successfully litigated cases and filed complaints with regulators based on Ripoti reports—and we have won. These victories prove that we can, and will, use the law to stop these violations.
However, safety is also about how we treat one another in these digital spaces. To address the rising tide of online abuse, specifically against women, we are hosting our ‘All Aboard’ webinar on Thursday, February 12th, titled ‘End the Clicks That Hurt.’ We will explore actionable ways to stop cyberbullying and harassment to create healthier digital spaces for women and girls in Africa. You can register here to join the conversation.
Ultimately, we cannot just ‘setting-change’ our way out of mass surveillance or systemic abuse. When data brokers sell your life story, you don’t just need a browser extension; you need a lawyer ready to fight for you. That is why our work goes beyond technology. We have spent years training judges, law enforcement officers, journalists, and lawyers across different regions to understand these threats. Later this month, we are gathering legal experts in Accra for a specialised Digital Rights Academy. We are equipping these lawyers with the skills to identify invisible violations and challenge them in court.
A safer internet requires personal action, social responsibility, and legal enforcement. At Paradigm Initiative, we are committed to all three.
Happy Safer Internet Day.