The framework
A map for your whole digital life.
Most privacy advice is a list of apps, and apps change every year. The Privacy Action Network framework asks four questions that don’t: what’s exposed, who ends up holding it, where the work happens, and what holds it all up.
Free to use · no sign-up · for individuals, households and communities
Four questions
Four questions that don’t go out of date.
Tools come and go. These questions stay the same, and together they turn privacy from a worry into a plan you can follow.
What’s exposed?
Your digital life in nine technology layers, from the device in your hand to the AI you talk to.
Who ends up holding it?
Seven trust protocols, from harm reduction to isolation: how far your data travels, and who is left holding it.
Where does the work happen?
Five scales, from one person to a whole movement. Most of the good work happens close to home.
What holds it all up?
Seven self-reliance layers, community first, because digital privacy is fragile on its own.
One picture
It all starts with you.
All four questions start from the same place. Your messages, photos, money and health records each sit somewhere on these rings: on your phone, at home, with people you know, or in a data centre a long way off. The closer something sits, the more say you have over it. Pick a ring to see what sits there.
Ring 1 · the middle
You
What’s in your head, on paper, and on the phone or laptop in your hand.
Who can reach it: you, and anyone who gets hold of the device.
A good move: a screen lock, encryption switched on, and a backup you control.
Where it stops: Closest isn’t always safest. A phone can be lost, stolen or taken, so lock it and back it up.
Ring 2
Home
The family computer, the router, and a small server or backup drive if you run one.
Who can reach it: the people you live with, and anyone on your Wi-Fi.
A good move: a backup at home on a drive you own, and a new password on the router.
Where it stops: If someone at home is the problem, treat home as far away.
Ring 3 · the sweet spot
Community
Tools your local group runs for itself: its own group chat, shared files and calendar, on a server someone in the group looks after.
Who can reach it: people you know and can talk to face to face.
A good move: move the group’s chat and files onto tools the group controls.
Where it stops: The club’s Facebook group feels like it belongs here, but it sits on the outer ring, in a data centre overseas.
Ring 4
Region
Very little of your data, today. Water and the electricity network are run by region or state, but most state and council systems sit in big city data centres, many of them run by global cloud companies.
Who can reach it: organisations close enough to hold to account.
A good move: ask your council and state services where they keep your data.
Where it stops: It’s the emptiest ring for data, and the one regional networks could fill.
Ring 5
Country
Data centres in your own country: your bank, your phone company, government services.
Who can reach it: companies and government, under your country’s laws, which can make companies hand data over.
A good move: give only what’s required, and prefer services that keep your data in the country.
Where it stops: Where it sits isn’t the whole story. A data centre down the road run by a US company can still be reached by US law.
Beyond the border
Overseas
Data centres in other countries, most often the US: most social media, free apps, email and AI chatbots.
Who can reach it: companies overseas, their country’s laws, and usually yours as well.
A good move: share less, and keep it apart: an email address and phone number that lead nowhere else.
Where it stops: You can’t lock what the platform needs to read. Out here, sharing less is what works.
Local first. Keep things as close as the job allows. Every ring further out means more hands and more laws can reach it, and less say for you. When something has to sit further out, you still have three moves:
Share less
Delete what you don’t need, and skip anything that isn’t required. Data that’s never made can’t leak.
Lock it
Encrypt it before it leaves your device, so what they hold is a sealed box they can’t open.
Keep it apart
Separate emails, numbers and accounts, so nothing out there links back to you.
Question 1 · What’s exposed?
Nine technology layers.
Each layer is a different kind of exposure, and they build on each other: a strong password can’t help if the device underneath it is compromised. Pick a layer to see why it matters and where to start.
Layer 1
Hardware & firmware
The device itself: the chips inside it, and the code that runs before your operating system starts. Phones, laptops, tablets and routers.
- Why it matters
- Everything else runs on top of it. A device that no longer gets security updates can’t be made safe by any app.
- A first step
- Check your devices still receive security updates, and install firmware updates when they’re offered.
- Going further
- Choose hardware with a long update promise, and retire or repurpose what’s out of support.
Layer 2
Operating systems
Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and Linux: what makes a device usable, and what every app depends on.
- Why it matters
- Out of the box, most are set to share diagnostics, an advertising ID and your location history.
- A first step
- Turn off the advertising ID, and review location history and diagnostics in your settings.
- Going further
- A privacy-respecting system: Linux on a computer, or a hardened operating system on a phone.
Layer 3
Network
How you connect: your internet provider, home router and Wi-Fi, DNS, and VPNs.
- Why it matters
- Whoever runs your connection can see which services you use, even when they can’t see inside them.
- A first step
- Change your router’s default admin password, and keep its firmware up to date.
- Going further
- Private DNS, a trustworthy VPN on public Wi-Fi, and a separate network for smart devices.
Layer 4
Communications
How you talk to people: text messages, messaging apps, email, calls and video.
- Why it matters
- Ordinary texts and most email can be read on the way or on a provider’s servers. Who you talk to, and when, says a lot on its own.
- A first step
- Move private conversations to an end-to-end encrypted messenger such as Signal.
- Going further
- Private email, and encrypted video calls for the conversations that matter.
Layer 5
Apps, browsing & services
Everything you use day to day: browsers and search, apps, and online services.
- Why it matters
- It’s where most tracking happens: ad networks, app permissions, and browser extensions that can read every page you open.
- A first step
- Use a privacy-respecting browser with a content blocker, and remove the apps you no longer use.
- Going further
- Swap one everyday service at a time for a private alternative, or run your own.
Layer 6
Data storage & encryption
Where your files and photos live: on your devices, in the cloud, and in your backups.
- Why it matters
- Unencrypted data can be read by anyone who gets the device or the account. And one copy is no copy.
- A first step
- Turn on device encryption, and keep a second, encrypted backup that you control.
- Going further
- The 3-2-1 rule: three copies, on two kinds of storage, with one kept somewhere else.
Layer 7
Identity & sign-in
Who you are online: passwords, two-factor sign-in, account recovery, and what anyone can find about you.
- Why it matters
- One reused password can open many accounts, and whoever controls your email can reset almost all of them.
- A first step
- A password manager, a unique password for every account, and two-factor sign-in, starting with your email.
- Going further
- Hardware security keys, email aliases, and removing yourself from people-search sites.
Layer 8
Financial privacy
Money and how you pay: cards, bank accounts, payment apps and loyalty schemes.
- Why it matters
- What you buy, where and when paints a detailed picture of your life, and that record is widely shared.
- A first step
- Know which cards and loyalty programmes link purchases to your name, and keep some cash on hand.
- Going further
- Separate accounts for separate purposes, and local ways to trade and pay.
Layer 9
AI
AI assistants and chatbots, and the AI features now built into apps and devices.
- Why it matters
- What you type or share can be kept, reviewed or used for training, and AI now reaches into every other layer.
- A first step
- Check an AI tool’s data settings before you paste anything private into it.
- Going further
- Run AI on your own computer for sensitive work, so nothing leaves the machine.
Question 2 · Who ends up holding it?
Seven trust protocols, from harm reduction to isolation.
Most of what’s collected about you, you never agreed to hand over: ad networks, data brokers, the platforms in between, and whoever buys them later. Each protocol is a decision about how far out on the rings your data travels, and how much of it reaches people you never chose. The numbers count down: almost everyone starts at 6 and steps down only when their situation calls for it. The aim isn’t the most security possible; it’s the right amount.
Protocol 6 · Public
Harm reduction
Stop the tracking. Cut ad networks and data brokers out of your everyday use.
Everyday life with mainstream tools, set up more safely. It’s where almost everyone should start.
- A password manager and two-factor sign-in
- Signal for private conversations
- Tracking blocked in the browser
Starting here isn’t starting small: it removes most everyday exposure.
Where it stops: It doesn’t stop the companies you hold an account with: bank, telco, supermarket, insurer, employer. You leave those by changing supplier, not by changing settings.
Protocol 5 · Semi-public
Privacy-aware
Stop it joining up. Be visible in public without every account resolving to one profile.
A public presence you control: for creators, small business owners and local organisers.
- Separate identities for work, community and home
- Email aliases, so one leak doesn’t expose everything
- Care over what’s posted, and when
Being visible and being private aren’t opposites.
Where it stops: Only as strong as your discipline. One cross-post, one reused photo or one shared phone number links the identities, and you can’t unlink them afterwards.
Protocol 4 · Semi-private
Professional privacy
Protect what’s confidential. Client, source and patient information kept off shared infrastructure.
For people whose work carries risk: client confidentiality, sources, advocacy.
- Separate devices or accounts for sensitive work
- Encrypted storage and communications by default
- A plan for what to do if something leaks
Most people live between 6 and 4.
Where it stops: It protects the work, not you. Your own life stays wherever you left it, and clients and suppliers are still the weakest link.
Protocol 3 · Community circle
Local network
Run it yourselves. The group’s data lives on tools the group controls, not a platform’s.
People who know each other face to face: neighbours, clubs and local groups.
- Shared tools the group runs, instead of big platforms
- Relationships built in person
- Mutual help when something goes wrong
The framework’s sweet spot: strong enough to rely on, small enough to trust.
Where it stops: You’ve swapped a corporation for your volunteers. It’s only as good as whoever holds the admin password and remembers the backups.
Protocol 2 · Trusted circle
High security
Compartment it. Nothing joins across projects, and everyone is who they say they are.
A small closed group handling genuinely sensitive work.
- Each project kept in its own compartment
- Careful checks on who’s who
- Legal and personal support planned in advance
Worth it when the stakes are real. Not the place to start.
Where it stops: Costly and conspicuous. The effort never lets up, and the practice itself can draw attention.
Protocol 1 · Inner circle
Maximum trust
Nobody in the middle. The few people closest to you, on systems you run yourselves.
Your closest one to five people, with the strongest tools and habits, used together.
- Agreed plans for emergencies
- Tools and systems you run yourselves
- Mutual aid you can count on
Most people have one or two relationships near here.
Where it stops: You are now the IT department. If you stop, it stops, so it needs a second person who can run it.
Protocol 0 · Zero trust
Isolation
Nothing leaves. Air-gapped and offline, for the rare case where exposure is genuinely dangerous.
Offline, isolated practice for rare, high-stakes situations.
- Air-gapped devices that never go online
- An exit plan from the very start
- Wellbeing built into the practice
Rare. Most people never need it, and that’s a good thing.
Where it stops: Costs you convenience, contact and often income. A posture for a situation, not a way to live.
Question 3 · Where does the work happen?
Five scales, from you to everyone.
The same rings, seen from the other side: not where your data sits, but who you’re doing the work with. Privacy practice changes as more people share it, and the framework does its best work in households and local communities: big enough to matter, small enough to trust.
Scale 1
Individual
One person and their own devices, accounts and choices. Where most people begin.
A good first move: the five quick wins, in about an hour, with free tools.
Scale 2
Household
People under one roof, sharing Wi-Fi, devices and often accounts. Shared decisions and different needs, and nobody can be made to take part.
A good first move: agree on one password manager, and on who looks after the router.
Scale 3 · the sweet spot
Community
Around fifteen to fifty people who know each other: a street, a club, a local group. Big enough to do real work, small enough to know everyone.
A good first move: a private group chat the group controls, and a skill-share evening.
Scale 4
Regional
A hundred to a thousand people across a region, linked by shared infrastructure, gatherings and working groups. Trust moves from knowing people to agreeing how things work.
A good first move: connect nearby groups through shared tools and a regular gathering.
Scale 5
National & global
Where everyday practice meets law and policy, alongside the organisations that already defend digital rights, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy International.
A good first move: support the people already doing this work, rather than starting over.
Question 4 · What holds it all up?
Seven self-reliance layers, community first.
You can’t be fully private while everything you need depends on systems you don’t control. Self-reliance is a privacy strategy too, and it starts with the people around you. It’s the same rings again: food, water, power and money hold up better the closer to home they come from.
Layer 1
Community
The people around you: neighbours, a skill share, a group chat the group runs itself. The first area, even if you live alone.
- Why it matters
- Every other layer is easier with people, and most are impossible alone. It is the multiplier, and the one thing here you cannot buy.
- A first step
- Learn three neighbours’ first names this month. Small talk is the foundation, and it is the whole first step.
- Going further
- A skill share, a tool library, and a group chat the group runs rather than rents.
Layer 2
Water
Stored water, a way to make it safe, and rain where you can collect it.
- Why it matters
- The least exciting area and the most basic. Stored water carries you through outages and contamination warnings. A smart water meter also shows when you are home.
- A first step
- Store drinking water for at least three days. Your state emergency service’s home emergency kit guide gives the quantities.
- Going further
- A rainwater tank where the property allows, and a filter somebody in the house knows how to maintain.
Layer 3
Food
Grow some, buy the rest from people you can see, preserve the gluts, and keep a pantry a fortnight ahead.
- Why it matters
- A loyalty card and a checkout that knows you add up to a detailed record of what you eat. Food from a garden, a market or a neighbour is not logged that way.
- A first step
- Grow something, in whatever space you have: herbs in pots, salad greens in a tray, sprouts on the bench.
- Going further
- Preserving a glut by a tested method, bulk buying with neighbours, and a pantry that stays ahead of the week.
Layer 4
Shelter
A secure base, rented or owned: locks, repairs, tools, and a plan for when home is not usable.
- Why it matters
- A home you can secure is the base for everything else: where devices and documents are safe, and where conversations stay private.
- A first step
- Fix whatever is wrong with the locks and the outside lighting. Renters and owners both have real options here.
- Going further
- The tools and skills to repair what you have, and shared tools for the rest.
Layer 5
Energy
Backup power and a lighter load, so an outage is a nuisance rather than a crisis.
- Why it matters
- Smart meters show when you are home, and the grid is a single point of failure in storms, fires and heatwaves. Backup keeps the fridge, the modem and your devices going.
- A first step
- A portable power station, with a small folding solar panel if you can. It suits renters, and it needs no permission.
- Going further
- Efficiency first, then solar and storage where you own the roof. Never run a generator indoors.
Layer 6
Health
First aid, prevention and looking after each other, alongside medical care and never instead of it.
- Why it matters
- Health records are among the most sensitive data there is. And not being helpless in an emergency matters on its own.
- A first step
- A real first-aid kit you can find in the dark, and a first-aid course that is still current.
- Going further
- Prevention, and knowing what to do in the minutes before help arrives.
General information, not medical advice, and none of it replaces care from a doctor.
Layer 7
Financial
A way to pay when card networks are down, and more than one way to reach your own money.
- Why it matters
- Every card payment is logged, and access through a single institution is a single point of failure.
- A first step
- Some cash at home for when cards and ATMs do not work, kept somewhere sensible.
- Going further
- More than one account, and local ways to exchange that do not all run through the same pipes.
Money and how you pay is Layer 8
General information, not financial advice.
PAN is the digital half of this. Local Action Network is the other half: gatherings, skill shares, tool libraries and neighbours who know each other again. It is launching now. LAN builds the community; PAN protects how it talks.
Putting it together
Find yourself on the map.
Take the privacy check: a dozen quick questions, then an extended round if you want more. See where you stand on all four, and your first three steps. Your answers stay on your screen.
The privacy check
Find your starting point in three minutes.
The light audit: a dozen quick questions, then an extended round if you want more. Your answers stay in this browser: the result is worked out on your screen, and nothing is sent anywhere unless you ask for your action list.
Get your full action list
Every layer, in the order I’d tackle them: what to change, how, and where to get help. Emailed to you once.
Only your results are sent: your layers and the steps that apply to you. Never your answers.
Rather have a hand with it?
This was the light audit. The full one goes through every facet of every layer and builds a plan made for you, with me or by you once the membership opens.
Three depths, one framework. The check is the light audit: a first pass over the nine layers that leaves you with a basic framework and the first things to do. The extended round asks more and sharpens it. Both are free, and both are sound general privacy practice. Your framework, the members’ version, is the one that is actually yours: fine-tuned to your answers, changing as you work through it, and yours to export. Read the disclaimer
Three examples of people on the map
Getting started
IndividualProtocol 6Layers 4, 5 and 7Light self-reliance
Family chats moved to Signal, a password manager set up, trackers blocked in the browser, and a fortnight’s cash at home.
A family business
HouseholdProtocol 5Layers 1 to 7Moderate self-reliance
Separate work and home accounts, a secured network, encrypted backups, and email aliases for suppliers and shopping.
A local group
CommunityProtocol 3All nine layersModerate self-reliance
Forty households with a group chat they run themselves, a community garden, a tool library and a monthly skill share.
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The framework course takes you through all of it, at your own pace: short lessons, each with a moving diagram, the steps to take on your own devices and accounts, and a plan that keeps track of what you’ve done.
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I’m working through this framework myself as I build it.
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