Millions of people are unaware of and uninformed about how their personal information is being used, collected or shared in our digital society. Data Privacy Day aims to inspire dialogue and empower individuals and companies to take action. While the information may be out there due to our own carelessness or privacy violations, there are steps you can take to protect yourself.
What is National Data Privacy Day?
In April of 2006 the Council of Europe decided to launch a Data Protection Day. They decided it would be celebrated each year on January 28th, the date on which the Council of Europe’s data protection convention takes place. Data Protection Day is now celebrated globally and is called Data Privacy Day outside Europe.
How do you protect your data?
Always use secured Wifi. – NEVER use unsecured WiFi – especially for banking or shopping. When you are using unsecured Wifi, it creates an amazing opportunity for the hacker to get unfettered access to unsecured devices on the same network.
Change your passwords – Changing your passwords once every six months is a good idea. Changing your passwords makes it harder for hackers to get to you. Don’t use dates that are important to you or family members’ names. A good password, for example would be J5*kG!og@e.
Don’t know if the email is safe, throw it out! – Clicking on links in emails is often how scammers get access to personal information. If an email looks unusual, even if you know the person who sent it, it’s best to delete it. If you know the person that sent the email you can also call them up to confirm they meant to send you that link.
Don’t save passwords on technology – Everyone can forget a password. Keep a list that’s stored in a safe, secure place away from your computer. Make sure your passwords are different on all your accounts. Using the same passwords on everything makes it easier for a hacker to get into everything.
Think before you post – Whether it’s an image, video or comment, what you post and what you share is a reflection of you. Make sure you feel good about being associated with anything you say online and be sure not to post anything that you wouldn’t want to share with the world. Once you put something out there it is out there forever! Even, if you think you deleted it, it is still stored somewhere out there in cyberspace.
Education is the best way to provide protection. If you are unsure of what to do on the internet it is best to take a class or ask someone that knows what they are doing for help. Happy National Data Privacy Day and stay safe!
