Data Privacy Week is an annual campaign to spread awareness about data privacy and securing personal information. This year’s theme is “Take control of your data.”
All of your online activity generates a data trail. Websites, apps and services collect data on your behaviors, interests and purchases. Sometimes, this includes personal data, like your Social Security and driver’s license numbers. It can even include information about your physical health—think about how a smartwatch counts and records how many steps you take.
While it’s true that you cannot control how information about you and your family is shared and processed, you are not helpless! In many cases, you can control how you share your data online.
Here are some simple, easy tips that will help you manage your data privacy:
Know the tradeoff between privacy and convenience
When downloading an app, opening a new online account, or joining a social media platform, make informed decisions about sharing your information. Ask yourself:
- Is the service, app, or game worth the amount or type of personal data they want in return?
- Can I control my data privacy and still use the service?
- Is the data requested even relevant for the app or service (that is, “why does a Solitaire game need to know all my contacts”)?
- If I haven’t used an app, service, or account in several months, is it worth keeping, knowing that it might be collecting and sharing my data?
Adjust settings to your comfort level
For every app, account, or device, check the privacy and security settings. These should be easy to find in a Settings section and should take a few moments to change. Set them to your comfort level for personal information sharing; generally, we think it’s wise to lean on the side of sharing less data, not more.
The National Cybersecurity Alliance has in-depth, free resources like the Manage Your Privacy Settings page that lets you check the settings of social media accounts, retail stores, apps and more.
Protect your data
Data privacy and data security go hand-in-hand. Along with managing your data privacy settings, follow these simple cybersecurity rules to keep yourself safe.
- Create long, unique passwords for each account and device. Use a password manager to store each password—maintaining dozens of passwords securely is now easier than ever.
- Turn on multifactor authentication (MFA) wherever it is permitted—this keeps your data safe even if your password is compromised.
- Turn on automatic device, software, and browser updates, or make sure you install updates as soon as they are available.
- Learn how to identify phishing messages, which can be sent as emails, texts, or direct messages.
Visit the Data Privacy Week website for more information.
And mark your calendars now for Love Data Week, a celebration of data during the week of Valentine’s Day.