4 Best Practices for Protecting Your Digital Privacy

Even though Halloween is officially on October 31 every year, decorative gourds, pumpkin spice beverages and even giant skeletons begin heralding its arrival well in advance. And 20 years ago, the National Cyber Security Alliance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chose October as Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Though we don’t know if it was to align with “the spooky season,” the monthly designation does put a spotlight on the arguably scary vulnerability of Americans’ online data.

That’s good because it helps create awareness about the dangers of not securing your online data and highlights the protective resources available.

Just as you wouldn’t leave your house unlocked or your car before leaving them or cross a street without looking both ways, you should take protective steps every day to be a better digital citizen. For example, whenever you visit a website, always check for the lock sign on the address bar, as that indicates the site is digitally encrypted. Here are four other important ways to protect your digital privacy.

Secure your online accounts

We all have so many different usernames and passwords that it can be difficult keeping track of them all. But don’t make the mistake of using the same one for everything. The longer your password is, the better, and don’t save passwords in your browser or on online sites.

Additionally, always use multifactor or two-step authentication when it’s offered. And Agnihotri says to consider using a password manager, which you set up by creating one master password that you will need to memorize. After that, the service will do the rest.

If you’re active on social media, Agnihotri stresses that it’s important to learn how to set up privacy settings for every platform. Photos and content you upload could lead to identity theft. The good news is that more awareness has led to more transparency about security standards. “Everybody should take the time to understand what settings are available and learn how to make adjustments accordingly,” Agnihotri says.

But he says the main thing to do is stop oversharing details about your life. “Hackers mostly look on your Facebook, Instagram or TikTok pages to find your personal information,” Agnihotri says. “If you take a selfie in the office and your badge is visible, they might be able your employee information based on that. And they can use geopositioning to figure out where you are. It’s easy for them to find out your mother’s maiden name and where you went to school just from browsing your social media. I wouldn’t say stop sharing on social media but be mindful of what you do share.”

Monitor your identity’s safety

The most valuable thing that everybody has is their identity—and that means everyone—regardless of wealth—is a target. A hacker can use your identity to open up credit cards, apply for loans or any number of things.

So if you start getting random emails or calls or you detect an unexpected change in your credit, go to identitytheft.gov, which is run by the Federal Trade Commission, to file a report. It’s also a good idea to request your free credit report at least once a year. You can also periodically check your email’s security status to see if it’s been compromised. You may also want to consider freezing your credit at all three reporting agencies.

Secure your online accounts

We all have so many different usernames and passwords that it can be difficult keeping track of them all. But don’t make the mistake of using the same one for everything. The longer your password is, the better, and don’t save passwords in your browser or on online sites.

Additionally, always use multifactor or two-step authentication when it’s offered. You may also want to consider using a password manager, which you set up by creating one master password that you will need to memorize. After that, the service will do the rest.

If you’re active on social media, it’s important to learn how to set up privacy settings for every platform. Photos and content you upload could lead to identity theft. The good news is that more awareness has led to more transparency about security standards. The main thing to do is stop oversharing details about your life—especially on platforms like Facebook, Instagram or TikTok where hackers can easily find your personal information.

A selfie taken at the office that shows your badge could lead hackers to your employee information. From there, and geopositioning will allow them to figure out where you are and browsing your social media might turn up your mother’s maiden name and where you went to school. You don’t need to give up social media, but be mindful about what you do share.

Exercise caution with online sites and apps

Try not to share any type of personal information unless absolutely necessary. Even the most basic data (birth dates, phone numbers, addresses and email addresses) can be used to steal your identity such as certain online quizzes. Though they may seem harmless, they’re designed to find out more information about you and some are set up by bad actors to be data mining activities.

Be careful when downloading apps onto your phone or tablet as well. Before downloading a new app, take the time to look for any red flags by checking to see if it has a 5-star ratings and reading the reviews.

Beware of public Wi-Fi

Another danger? Public Wi-Fi. While quickly browsing the internet for something is probably OK, you should never use it for doing a banking transaction, online shopping or anything that will access one of your personal online accounts.

Protect your internet connections and devices

Update your operating systems

Your personal computer will periodically receive updates for your operating system: Always apply them or configure your machine to do it automatically. Install antivirus software, if it doesn’t come pre-installed, and make sure it’s always on so you get the automatic updates.

Back up your data

Be sure to make regular backups of your data and verify their integrity. Secure the backups by making sure they are not always connected to the computers they are backing up. Whenever you plan to dispose of any old devices, make certain you have wiped them of any personal information.

Set up a personal VPN

With the massive shift to working from home during the pandemic, many office workers became familiar with logging on to their company’s virtual private network (VPN). It’s definitely worth investing in one for your personal devices as well. They’re relatively inexpensive and provide a lot of protection because it hides your activity from any outside parties providing a secure internet connection. A VPN acts as a go-between from your computer to an internet site and anonymizes you, which keeps hackers from having a direct line to your activity.

While you’re at it, you should also protect your Wi-Fi networks with a password and change the default admin passwords on all your connected devices.

Know how to identify phishing emails

Of all the online dangers, phishing is the No. 1 threat to every person and every business. It’s the main way bad actors obtain confidential information.

So, if you have any suspicions about an email, don’t click on anything. Confirm with a phone call from the sender. Or, instead of clicking on anything in the email, go directly to the website it seems to represent.

It’s also a good idea to set up a second email address if you want to enroll in any contests or sign up for shopping discounts. The more places you enter your email, the higher your chances for getting spam and malicious emails. So set up one email where you won’t care that you get a bunch of junk mail in it. And reserve your more legitimate email for your friends and family and important accounts you access online.