10 tips on personal data security and a Quiz to test your data privacy awareness
It can be hard to realize how valuable your privacy is. Personal information like your name, date and place of birth, medical history, telephone number or address serves to identify you. Lost or stolen identity is one of the scariest things that could happen to a person. That’s why 80+ countries and independent territories around the world have data protection laws. Take our Data Privacy quesions quiz to test your data privacy awareness!
Here are a few tips on how you can protect your personal data and privacy:
- Learn your rights and don’t hesitate to exercise them if you feel that your personal data is not handled in the proper way.
- Don’t rush in and offer all your personal data. Entities must only collect the data that is indispensable to their work. If you feel a company shouldn’t ask you to provide some personal data, don’t be shy to find out why they need it and how they are going to use it. You may be surprised to find out that you not only don’t have to provide the extra data, but can use a pseudonym instead of your real name as well.
- Check your credit information carefully. You have a right to access or update your credit report for free at any time, because if it is not accurate, you may be unable to take some financial decisions like getting a loan or buying property.
- Make sure your online transactions are safe. Never give your credit information openly on the web. When shopping online, use secure wireless networks only. Invent long (over 8 characters) complicated passwords that consist of letters, numbers and punctuation marks and regularly change them; never use the same password across different accounts.
- Secure your mobile phone by putting a pin lock on it. There are loads of personal data – from photos to bank account info - stored in your smartphone, and it’s quite doubtful that you log out of every service after using it. Be careful with sharing info via apps; it’s best to only use the apps provided by well-known and reliable sources, especially if you have to use your geo-location settings or financial information.
- Install security software on your computer. Quality tools include anti-virus scanners, firewall software and anti-spyware. Make sure you keep the security software updated, too.
- Adjust the privacy settings in each and every one of your social accounts. Be careful with what you post and share, as your opinions may change, but your digital footprint will remain forever and have a negative impact on your professional or personal reputation.
- Choose a secure way of disposal for hard copy and digital data to protect yourself from identity theft: shred documents, destroy expired banking cards, format hard drives, remove the SIM from your phone, etc.
- Watch out for scams, as they are now everywhere around the web. Don’t give out your personal data if you are not expecting an info update request, a refund or a prize. Check out the lists of current scams provided by government departments.
These pieces of advice are super easy to follow, but they can really help you secure your personal information and avoid various unpleasant issues connected to it. And now it is time to check your knowledge by taking our Data Privacy quiz!