Friend can find search results from across country

Hi. My friend has a background in tech, and somehow can look up my search results specifically on Google (and possibly other search engines) from their location. (We live across the country from each other). I find it creepy. For example, I made a post on reddit from my phone and they were able to find the post without knowing I was even on reddit.

I just find it creepy that this can happen.

Are VPN’s the way to prevent this kind of thing. Or any other privacy services?