How To Protect Your Personal Information Online

It is more important now more than it ever was before to protect your personal information online. With the growth of technology and social media, there is an increase in people who want to collect personal data. To prevent them from getting that information, you need to take action.

There are several steps you can take to protect yourself online. Many people don’t realize that what you do offline and with the devices you use to get online matter as well. Below is a deep dive into your you can protect yourself and your future safe from identity theft or financial troubles from scammers.

Use a Privacy-Oriented Search Engine

One of the easiest things you can do to protect yourself online is to use a privacy-oriented search engine. Even though Google is the most popular search engine, it is not the safest. There are data breaches, your information is kept and sometimes sold to third-parties, and your location is often tracked.

Using one of these will keep your information safe and secure. There are many trusted options available that don’t track your location or use your search history to curate ads to you. With so many options available, there isn’t a reason not to switch. Privacy-oriented search engines are becoming more and more popular.

Protect Your Devices

You also need to protect your devices. Many people own more than one device, usually having at least a smartphone and a laptop. When it comes to protecting your devices, there are a few things to keep in mind. For starters, all of your devices should be password protected.

The password should never be something that can be easily guessed like a birthday, the name of your pet, or the street you grew up on. You don’t want to have the same password for all of your devices either. Lastly, if you choose to recycle or sell an older device you no longer need, it is crucial to wipe in clean up any saved passwords or personal information.

Change Up All of Your Passwords

Speaking of passwords, another way you can protect yourself online is to change your passwords regularly. Just like with your devices, you don’t want to use the same password for multiple websites. You also want to stay away from using the same passwords online that you also use for PINS for credit or debit cards.

This is really important for those who have several social media accounts. This is one of the easiest ways for a hacker to get your information. Be sure to make all of your social media passwords different from one another.

Social Media Etiquette

Speaking of social media, there are certain rules that you can follow to allow yourself to be a bit more protected. Firstly, watch what you say online. This doesn’t mean to not post political or religious things to avoid offending your aunt. Watching what you post online can help you stay protected online and in real life.

You wouldn’t want to take a photo of your child where someone could see your address or the surrounding street names. If you take a selfie at work that you like and want to post it online, make sure that all evidence of where you work is not shown in the photo. This includes badges, signs, and uniforms that could give away where you work to the entire internet.

Lastly, something to look out for on social media is fake accounts. You don’t have to be an A-list celebrity to have impersonators online. If you do find people using your photos, name, or any other information that belongs to you, report their accounts immediately. You never know what the imposters are using that account for.

2 thoughts on “How To Protect Your Personal Information Online”

  1. It’s a very informative article, you recommended to use privacy oriented search engines, I would like to know few of those?

    Reply

Leave a Comment