Introduction
Every day, from social media to online banking sites, we quite often throw in sensitive information, rarely giving a thought to the possible foes that may lie in wait beyond our screens. Given that the threat landscape continues to develop, so is the need to protect our data from falling into the wrong hands within the cybercriminal community. Here are simple but actionable steps that one might implement to improve their data privacy.
Table of Contents
Understanding Your Internet Presence
What Is Personal Data, and How Do Websites Collect It?
Personal data is all the information that defines an individual. This definition includes the name, address, email, and even the IP-address of the electronic device belonging to a person. When you sign up for any service or shop online or even when you interact on the various social media platforms, you leave behind these digital footprints, which are collected and stored by various entities.
What the heck does it really matter which websites my data is on?
First, know where your data is. The first step in managing your online presence and privacy involves first of all understanding which websites and services have your information.
Tools and Methods to Check Your Digital Footprint
Here are examples of tools you can use for this purpose:
search for wherever your name or email appears on the internet.
Check if any of your data has been involved in known breaches using services like
Have I Been Pwned?.
Kindly give a review and reconsider the settings of your Privacy on
Creating Strong Passwords
Role of passwords in data security
The passwords are the first line of security to guard all personal accounts. Your vulnerability to a cyber attack is directly dependent on the power of your password.
Developing a Strong and Secure Password
Always use a mix of both alphabets and digits.
Chat up the NSA Director, immeasurable power, internal affairs, “off”.
Make passwords longer, a minimum of 12 characters.
What are Password Managers?
It is going to store and manage your passwords securely. It can provide you with the facility of creating a strong password and allow you not to remember each of them, except the master password.
Utilizing Two-Factor Authentication
Understanding Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
Adding an extra layer to security, 2FA requires two things to be presented for a user to gain access: usually something one knows (like a password) and something one possesses (like a phone to receive a code).
How to enable 2FA on popular platforms
Most of the popular online platforms offer 2FA, and enabling it usually involves:
Look into its settings or even go to the security section of the platform.
Choosing the option of 2FA ON.
Once you click the confirmation of your phone number or email, just follow the instructions.
Regularly Updating Software
Vulnerabilities protected with updates
Software updates often include paetches for closing security holes that have been identified since the previous update. Failure to keep your software up to date may leaeve the doors open for exploitation by cybercriminals.
Setting Up Automatic Updates
Set your devices and apps to auto-update for both convenience and safety: in this way, you’ll run with the latest and updated security features always.
Being Wary of Phishing Scams
Understanding Phishing Scams
Phishing is a social engineering trick whereby hackers dupe people into releasing their sensitive information; this may include fraudulent emails or websites purporting to be from genuine organizations.
How to Identify and Avoid Phishing
Never give out any of your personal information in these emails.
Please check if the email address is from a reliable sender.
I would, therefore, urge you to directly type such URLs on your browser, not following any links that you get in unsolicited emails.
Using Secure and Private Networks
The Perils of Public Wi-Fi
Most public Wi-Fi networks are insecure by their nature. Most of the information sent over such networks can easily be captured by a criminal.
Benefits of Using a VPN
A Virtual Privaete Network (VPN) will secure and make your connection private, even over public networks. It changes your IP address and almost makes untraceable the actions you take online.
Recommended VPN Services
Some great service providers include NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and CyberGhost. They all give you various features based on varied needs, accompanied by user-friendly and reliable VPN services.
Monitoring Your Accounts Regularly
Strategies to make sure that you stay informed of what’s going on in your accounts:
Enable alerts to any humanly unusual activities.
Regularly check your account for things that are fishy.
Use account-monitoring services that will provide you with real-time updates on your credit report and possible identity fraud.
Knowing Your Rights and Recourses
Background of the Legal Protections
Access, rectification, and cancellation rights are the consumers’ personal data rights under EU laws, where they may demand of a firm that holds their information to disclose it, make corrective actions in case of mistakes, and also, under some circumstances, delete it.
Exercising Your Rights
Contact organizations to assert your data rights proactively and report immediately to relevant authorities upon noticing any misuse.
Conclusion
Those are a few of the simple yet practical ways you can use to ensure your personal data is safe. We live in a global village whereby changes occur at a very fast rate. Data security is and should be one aspect falling under the responsibility of people and organizations. You should, therefore, start putting these into practice and make your place secure over the internet.
Call to Action
Do not be one of the statistics of breached data. Take these steps now to secure your personal information. Find more comprehensive guides and resources at Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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