General question, but i’m sure i’m not alone in working for a company that requires you to use your work email, and name and things when signing up, testing, communication, etc.
Just general guidelines that maybe aren’t obvious would be cool. Not really sure how to balance all this with work related stuff
Hey Homero, great question. As you guessed, this is something pretty much everyone struggles with.
The mindset I have is: you can’t really have privacy at work, and that’s okay. Your work email and computer aren’t private spaces, as your employer can see what you’re doing, and that’s part of the deal. Fighting that is usually a losing battle.
Do you have separate devices for work like work laptop and work phone? That would be the ideal situation, so all your work usage can be compartmentalized. It’s like keeping your work clothes separate from your weekend clothes. Your work email is only for work stuff, and same with work phone number if you can swing it.
You can also use different browsers/browser profiles to keep it clear what’s work and what’s not.
Goal shouldn’t be perfect privacy everywhere, because that’s impossible, especially in an inherently non-private context. There’s really no benefit in using extreme privacy-focused tools that might get blocked or raise flags or being inflexible to the point of harming your future career. There has to be a compromise. Key is understanding your specific threats and making informed decisions, and for many, that’s compartmentalization.
I used to use Arkenfox browser on my work laptop and that was blocking a bunch of interconnected work tools that was preventing me from actually doing the work I was paid for. And me bugging IT just to accommodate my privacy level would not have been feasible. I just accepted that not everything I do at work will be private, so the best I can do is just do work stuff on work devices, and completely separate myself.
Biggest concern I have is that I have a very unique name, so that might be the only tie between my work and personal life, so I try to use a nickname at work whenever possible, but even work has legal requirements that prevent them from officially using a “fake” name everywhere, so… there’s that. But they’re usually okay with the shortened version of my name, so maybe consider that if you’re concerned about being forced to use your name when signing up for stuff.
But yeah, you can still be using adblocker and simple privacy stuff like that, but fighting to use workflow-breaking privacy tools is usually not worth it.
Most employers will limit what you install on your devices. Mine is a bit open, so I do have Brave with most/all of the extra features disabled. I use the estimated time savings on the new tab in some meetings where I’m sharing my screen. 
Also Firefox is permitted, and I have UBlock Origin.
Web surfing - barely any is done from my work laptop. It’s all work and work related research. I assume they can watch me.
I assume that my laptop could be replaced at any time - either it dies or they hand me a new one. I store nothing on it I can’t lose. It is backed up and Google Drive Transfer of my personal files as well.
I keep a separate paper notebook for work. It’s their IP and I can easily hand it to them at any time.
On my phone, I can remove my Android work profile rather quickly. Settings, Passwords, tap Work, bottom Remove work profile. I may need to execute that in an HR meeting.
Not much you can do about it. Work is one of those exceptions like finances.
If you work remote, just make sure to create a dedicated VLAN for your work laptop. Infosec departments at companies now track what other devices are connected to your network to monitor for security threats.