DATA PRIVACY AND PROTECTION

The Importance of Protecting Yourself Online and How to Do It!

By Marvin Williams

Introduction

There are many things you can do online from entertaining yourself all the way up to completing business transactions.

Take Note

While the internet allows many people to do a lot from one location. We must understand the importance of protecting our information online to keep life running as smoothly as possible.

What is Privacy Really?

Privacy is mainly defined as a human value consisting of 4 rights: solitude, anonymity, intimacy and reserve (Stamatellos 2007 pg.26)

Privacy = Personal Data

SSN Bank account Numbers Credit Card Numbers Personal Health Information

These are all examples of personal data worth protecting!

The Consequences of Not Taking Precautions to Protect Yourself

The biggest issue involved with not protecting your personal data is Identity Theft.

What is Identity Theft?

This is where unauthorized individuals use another person’s name to receive credit cards, driver’s licenses and various other items in their victim’s name (Buetens 2002 )

They can also sell this information on the stolen identity black market to the highest bidder!

Personal Story

“I have personally felt the sting of identity theft. It was a few years ago. I believe I had done a sales transaction on an unsecure website. A few days later, I logged into my bank account to find various charges from various online stores. I was devastated, and I had to go through a long stressful process to stop it. I couldn’t use my bank account for weeks. This was especially rough since all my money was in one location. Identity theft can be heart wrenching, and we should do everything we can to prevent it from happening to ourselves.”

Prevention is the Best Treatment

Being Cautious Not Scared Stiff

There can be some serious implications to not protecting your persona data online but there is no reason to live in fear

Use the Following steps to protect yourself online and in the virtual universe:

Use Good Passwords

Make sure your passwords are at least eight characters in length (Kissell 2009)

You can actually get the best protection from a password that is at least 11 characters in length

Mix & Match Method

Mix & Match -People often like to use names, places, dates and other familiar things associated with them. This can be too easy to guess, but you can make your password stronger by combining 2 into one. For instance, you can could use your dog’s name and the date you graduated together for a super strong password (Kissell 2009)

Be Cautious of What Information You Display

There are many social websites (Facebook,Twitter,Pinterest) that allow you to create public profiles and add personal information like your date of birth.

Be fully aware of what you display to the world. Identity thieves can take little bits of personal information displayed here to eventually access greater personal information later.

Be Weary of Odd Emails

I often receive many emails telling me that I have a package or I need to check my bank account .Then will ask me to click a link in the email.

Never do this! It is often best to go directly to the website by typing in the web address, if you are familiar with the website such as your bank and log in there.

When Doing Purchases Online Check for this!

Make sure you are in a secure section of the website

The “http://” should change to a “https://” The extra “s” stands for secure

In addition, a lock or key should be represented on the lower corner of the webpage (Buetens

2002)

These simple tips will help protect your personal

data and privacy online.

Reminder

The internet can be wonderful place for information, growth, and

socialization. You just need to take the proper steps to protect yourself along

the way.

Happy Surfing!

Quick Questions

Was the content relevant and easily understood?

Was the presentation appropriate to your level?

Would you be able or willing to apply the preventative approach suggested in the presentation?

What improvements would you suggest be made to the presentation?

Resources

Stamatellos, G. (2007) Computer Ethics: A Global Perspective. United States: Jones and Bartlett Publishers

Kissell, J. (2009). Top Password Tips. Macworld, 26(9), 64-68.

Buetens, B. (2002). Identity Theft: How It

Can Destroy Your Life and How to Guard Against It. Biography, 6(9), 58.