How safe is your personal data?
If you’re anything like the average person, you believe your personal data is safe or not of value to anyone. After all, your name and phone number are probably publicly available on social media.
Well, turns out identity theft is big business. In 2020, 47 percent of Americans were victims of identity theft (which happens when someone uses your personal data to impersonate you and commit fraud), resulting in $712 billion in losses.
It’s in your best interest to learn how to protect personal data before it’s too late. Read on to learn how to do it.
Know What Constitutes Personal Data
The first step to competently protecting your data is having a clear idea of what personal data is.
In a nutshell, personal data is any piece of information that can be used to identify you. These include your names and alias, phone numbers, identity number, passport number, social security number, social media profiles, IP address.
Other personal information also includes location data, bank account numbers, purchase history, search and browsing history, education history, and even genetic data.
Now that you know what personal data is, you know what you’ll be protecting. Far too many times, consumers only focus on protecting their personal financial information, not knowing that there are other bits of personal data that should be protected as well.
Use Strong Passwords
Did you know the average person has 100 passwords?
Between our devices, social media accounts, bank accounts, ecommerce accounts, and school accounts, it’s easy to see how easily anyone can rack up those passwords. You certainly know the benefits of having a password on any personal device or account, but how strong is that password?
Most people opt for weak passwords that are easy to remember or key in. It’s understandable that when you’re dealing with 100 passwords, you don’t want to make life any harder than it already is by having complex, multi-character passwords.
However, weak passwords leave you vulnerable. For instance, if someone who knows you steals your password-protected phone, they can key in a speculative password, such as your name. If you had your name as the password, they’ll access it.
Don’t shy away from using strong passwords because they’re difficult to remember. These days, there are lots of password management software or applications that will do the hard work for you. The auto-suggest strong passwords, save and auto-fill them when required. All you need to do is have one strong master password to access the password manager.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
Having a strong password on online accounts is a good start, but if there’s the option to enable 2-factor authentication, go for it.
2FA adds a layer of security two your online accounts. This requires you to enter a code sent to your phone after inputting the correct password. This essentially means that if someone manages to get your account password, they’ll still need to be in possession of your phone in order to successfully log into the account.
Take Care of Your Devices
Putting strong passwords on your smartphones, tablets, computers, and other electronic devices is commendable. However, even strong passwords can be broken by hackers who know what they’re doing. If your password-protected device is stolen, you should be just as worried as you would if your unsecured device was stolen.
As such, it’s important to ensure your devices don’t fall into the wrong hands in the first place. Keep your devices safe, even when you’re at home. You don’t want burglars to easily find your devices were they to break into your house.
Also, if your device is stolen, take the necessary steps. Besides making a report to the authorities, remote-lock it if they have that feature.
Some devices also enable you to wipe off the data remotely. Use this option if there’s no hope of recovering the device.
If you’re selling or disposing of your device, ensure you have erased the data. A service like Shredcube.com can help you do this properly.
Don’t Provide Personal Information to Fishy Websites
Americans spend about 23 hours online every week, switching from website to website.
Most of these websites are harmless but you can land on fraudulent websites as well. These websites look normal, but in the background, they’re fetching your personal data. Some will even ask you to provide your personal details, such as your name and email address.
Be high on alert when you’re browsing on random websites. Be wary of sites that don’t have HTTPS encryption and don’t be so quick to provide your details without doing due diligence.
Avoid Using Open/Public WiFi Networks
Free WiFi is awesome, especially if it’s super-fast. However, there’s no telling whether it’s safe. Online hackers love monitoring public networks because many people use them. They have the capability to fetch personal information, such as account usernames and passwords, remotely.
Ideally, you want to avoid using these kinds of WiFi networks. But if you have to, at least don’t use them to access personal accounts, especially those that have your financial information.
Protect Personal Data Properly
You might never fully understand the value of protecting personal data until you become a victim of identity theft. Imagine going to apply for a mortgage only to find that there’s a credit account in default on your credit report, yet you have nothing to do with it.
The only way to ensure that doesn’t happen to you is to protect personal data properly. As a start, use the tips fleshed out above.
Keep tabs on our blog for more cybersecurity tips and advice.
