As part of our tireless crusade to raise awareness around the issue of personal privacy on the web and to advocate for a free and open internet, we recently teamed up with HitRecord, an open-collaborative production company run by none other than the actor and director Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Together we created a short film featuring you, citizens of the internet, and your thoughts on internet privacy. Unsurprisingly, we were blown away by your thoughtful video responses, which poured in from all corners of the world. We called the film Too Much Information or TMI, and premiered it on the big screen at Net Positive, the Rooftop Film screening in New York City this past weekend! But, of course, a film about the web belongs on the web, so without further ado…

Ultimately, it all came down to this: Most people care about online privacy, but are unsure about what they can do to stop the flow of personal info from getting into the wrong hands. (This isn’t a new dilemma, unfortunately. We received the same feedback to our privacy survey from earlier this year. Take a look.)

From our short with HitRecord, here are just a few stories that stood out:

“I don’t share anything online that I would be upset [about] if it ended up on the front page of a newspaper” “I don’t think we have any privacy online, and I’m not sure what we can do as the little person.” “Everything that I put online is not true–it’s not accurate. And that’s the best way to control privacy.” “I probably overshare online. I share my personal Twitter with a lot of people. I talk into my camera and walk around, and in the background you can see where I am.” “While it’s never okay for anyone to take your personal information without your permission, at the end of the day, you’re giving people permission. A whole lot of permission.”

Ways To Protect Yourself Online

“The reality is, in this day and age, almost everything we do leaves some digital footprint, and that data is being collected, processed and distributed with or without your knowledge.”

–Selena Deckelmann, Director of Engineering at Firefox

If you watched the film or tuned in for our Facebook Live video with the HitRecord team during the Net Neutrality Day of Action on July 12th, you probably picked up some tips from Selena Deckelmann, our director of engineering at Firefox and featured guest in the vid. Below are a few recommendations from Selena on what you can do to control where your online info is going:

Be aware. Think about what you’re looking at and what you’re clicking on. Questions to ask yourself include: Where did the information come from (someone you know and trust, hopefully) and where are the links taking you?

Think about what you’re looking at and what you’re clicking on. Questions to ask yourself include: Where did the information come from (someone you know and trust, hopefully) and where are the links taking you? Keep your software up-to-date. Enable auto-updates. “An up-to-date piece of software is a secure piece of software,” says Selena.

Enable auto-updates. “An up-to-date piece of software is a secure piece of software,” says Selena. Use private browsing to block trackers. Tap into this feature while using Firefox on desktop and Android, or with Firefox Focus on iOS and Android.

If you’d like to dig deeper and learn more, check out the Facebook Live video below featuring Selena and Team HitRecord and get the full download!