8 simple ways to protect your personal privacy online

With Data Privacy Day set to take place on Tuesday Jan 28 there’s no better time to think about your own data usage and data privacy concerns etc… About Data Privacy Day – The proclamation coincides with an international effort to empower and educate people about how to protect their personal information and manage their digital footprint. Data protection and privacy is a constantly evolving field and requires ongoing efforts to maintain security.

data privacy day

And so, in order to help you out and give you a task for Privacy Day here’s Eight simple tips to protecting your personal privacy online – I suggest you have a look and see how any/all can apply to your data usage patterns and consider:

1. Think before you click –  Hackers can create templates that look like a bank or other official websites making it easy for them to access your computer and online accounts.
2. Be cautious about revealing information on social networks –  Always be very careful when sharing information in your public profile. Remember to lock down privacy settings. Also, be cautious when sharing photos – photo stealing and misuse of photos is a serious issue.
3. Only open email attachments from people you know – Attachments may contain software that could potentially harm your computer
4. Don’t respond to emails requesting personal information – Legitimate individuals and companies will not ask you to provide or verify sensitive information through a non-secure means such as email.
5. Make sure your passwords are strong – When creating new passwords, use a mix of upper and lowercase letters and numbers. Make sure you change your most important passwords, like banking, at least once every six months.
6. Secure your wireless connection – Make sure you protect your home wireless network with a password and when connecting to public Wi-Fi networks make sure to be cautious about what information you are sending over it.
7. Upgrade your security – Personal firewalls and security software packages with anti-virus, anti-spam, and spyware detection features are a must-have for those who engage in online financial transactions. Make sure the computer you are using has the latest security patches. Note: Secure website connections start with “https” instead of just “http” and have a key or closed padlock in the status bar that typically appears in the lower right-hand corner of your screen.
8. Protect your phone with a password – Smartphones can hold as much or even more personal information than your laptop or desktop computer.

Source: Data Privacy PR

Data Privacy Day 2014 official website: http://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-day/

See also the 2013 Data Privacy Day Report [PDF]