How to Protect Your Privacy and Identity Online

jaime — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:03:15 +0000

There’s been a lot of controversy about online privacy lately, especially with Google and Facebook making major changes that affect privacy and automatically signing members up without warning. As social media makes our lives more public, the responsibility for protecting your privacy and identity is left in your hands. There are 6 ways you can start to protect your privacy online.

1. Read the Terms, Conditions and Privacy Policies When You Sign Up to Websites

Every website has its own terms and conditions. Most people don’t read these terms and are shocked when they find out something they didn’t know. If you sign up to a social website where you’re required to give your personal information, spend 5 minutes reading the terms and conditions and find out what you are agreeing to and whether you are comfortable with it.

If you’re looking for something “light” to read this summer, check out:

2. Regularly Review the Privacy Settings

Don’t assume the default privacy settings on any website will protect your private information. Make a habit of regularly reviewing the settings. It’s good practice to check out your settings after any site changes. If you notice anything different on the site, use it as a reminder to check your privacy settings.

3. Protect Your Birthday

38% of social media users post their full birthday, including the year. Here’s another scary figure – 1.7 million US households reported they experienced online identity theft. It’s much easier for someone to steal your identity if they know your birthday. To protect your privacy, you can set your birthday to only show the day and month, or hide it all together.

4. Be Wary of Location-Specific Applications or Sharing Your Travel Plans

Location-based mobile applications such as Foursquare allow you to share your location with your friends and can be fun, but they also let people know when you aren’t home. Likewise, sharing your vacation plans on public sites gives thieves the exact times you’ll be away from your home. Even though you may be excited about your trip, it’s better to share the pictures when you get back. Otherwise, I hope you have insurance!

5. Avoid Giving Personal Information When Prompted by Email

Scammers use bogus emails to prompt you to change your information or reenter your passwords to popular sites – or even your bank. None of these sites or institutions will ever send you an unsolicited email asking you to reset your password or confirm any personal information.

6. Change Your Password Regularly

Be honest with me … when was the last time you changed your password on any site? Do you use the same password on every site you use? Have you shared your password with anyone? With so many websites, passwords, pins and security questions, it can be difficult to remember them all, but it is no excuse for not managing them responsibly. Luckily, there is help, you can download a nifty little application that will store you passwords for you securely.

For Windows users – check out AnyPassword
For Mac users – check out 1Password

(Photo provided by Darwin Bell on Flickr)