Most of us use the internet freely, without thinking about the potential for data danger. The situation is so serious that the UK Information Commissioner has launched a pilot project in two schools to teach pupils about the importance of keeping their personal data safe. He says, “Just as we teach citizenship in schools, you need to teach the importance of information rights. If students understand why this is important, they are more likely to be careful with their personal information.”

 

Young people are vulnerable. But so are adults getting to grips with the internet for the first time. So what is data privacy? Why does it matter? What can happen when things go wrong? And what can you do to keep yourself safe?  Here’s some handy advice about how to stay private when and where it matters.

 

What does online data privacy mean?

Data privacy means much the same thing online as offline. Imagine you’re out and about in the town centre, on a train, on the bus, in a shop… you wouldn’t go around handing your personal and private details – things like your address, bank account details, secrets and more – to strangers in the ‘real’ world. And the same goes online. Privacy is just as important in the virtual world and it makes sense to treat your personal information with care.   

When do I need to be aware of keeping my online data private?

What kinds of activities does data privacy apply to? It’s mostly common sense. If you leave your address open to the world at large online, anyone who is interested can find out where you live. If you tell everyone your bank account details, it’s possible someone will use them to steal your money. If you announce you’re going on holiday for two weeks, everyone will know you’re away from home and your house is empty. If you make it easy for spammers and mischief makers to harvest personal and contact details from your machine or your website, you risk people using it for malicious purposes.

What are the dangers?

What are the dangers of poor data security? Trusting the world at large to treat your data with the right amount of respect and care leaves you open to all sorts of unpleasant stuff. Remember the famous house parties announced to everyone and his dog on Facebook? They went horribly wrong, with literally thousands of people turning up out of the blue. But it would have been easy to prevent, a simple matter of being aware of the risks and configuring Facebook’s security and privacy settings properly. 

Poor data privacy can also result in:

 ·         Identity theft and actual theft

·         Endless spam email messages, many of which contain computer viruses and other nasties

·         Malicious attacks on your website, social media accounts or blog

·         Private personal information being shared widely on social media whether you like it or not

·         Potential employers seeing something they shouldn’t online and deciding not to employ you

·         Embarrassing situations with parents, teachers, colleagues, relatives, family and friends

·         Unwanted hard-sell marketing including email, telesales and SMS  

What can I do to keep my online data safe?

·         Always use strong passwords to make it as difficult as possible for human spammers and automated ‘spam bots’ to guess

·         Think first, post data to the internet second. If you wouldn’t tell it to a stranger, don’t make it public

·         Keep your Facebook, Twitter, and other social network accounts as safe as you can by configuring the security and privacy settings so only the people in your communities can see inside

·         Never connect to unsecured public Wi-Fi services; always make sure the Wi-Fi you use is 100% legitimate and properly password-protected

·         Buy good quality antivirus software, including a firewall, keep it up to date, and protect all your gadgets including laptops, smartphones, tablets, and desktop PCs

·         Never open or interact with spam or malicious email – delete it straight away

·         Learn about your rights under the UK Data Protection Act

·         Delete all your personal data safely from old machines before giving them away, recycling or dumping them, so nobody else use it without your permission

·         If you store data on the Cloud, configure the settings so everything going in and out of your account is safely encrypted

·         Look out for opt-in and opt-out boxes online. Use them to prevent businesses sending you marketing offers you don’t want and passing your contact details to other organisations

Luckily, more of us are becoming aware of the value of our personal data and how to keep it safe from unscrupulous marketers and mischief makers. As a general rule, the more aware you are of the risks, the better care you can take of your data.

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