Reddit Privacy Settings Guide (updated 2021)

Compared to other social networks, Reddit is a bit more barebones in terms of features and therefore also in terms of privacy settings. Here’s a handy list of the things you can do to harden your Reddit account.

Profile

Content visibility: disable. Here you can select whether or not
posts to this profile can appear in r/all and your profile can be discovered in /users.

Active in communities visibility: disable. If enabled, it shows which communities you’re active in on your profile.

Safety & Privacy

Show up in search results:  Disable.

Personalize all of Reddit based on the outbound links you click on: Disable.

Personalize ads based on your Reddit activity: Disable.

Personalize ads based on information from our partners: Disable.

Personalize ads based on your activity with our partners: Disable.

Personalize recommendations based on your general location: Disable.

Personalize recommendations based on your activity with our partners: Disable.

Use two-factor authentication: Enable!

Manage third-party app authorization: Review periodically, disable app accesses as needed. Less access means less potential data leaks.

Online Presence Indicator

Announced in March 2021, this new and terrible feature is on by default. Click your username on top right and disable (“Hiding”). Check periodically to see if it has switched back on automatically.

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These steps should get you started, but do be aware that as explained in their Privacy Policy, Reddit collects a shit-ton of information about you – including geolocation data –  regardless of these settings. It’s also worth visiting /r/privacy, and as always, remember to keep identities and profiles completely separated.

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This guide is part of my social media hardening series. You can find more articles like this, covering e.g. LinkedIn, from this category.