Identity theft is any deception, scam, or crime that results in the loss of personal data, including user names, passwords, banking information, and credit card details. Your phone or tablet is essentially a small computer, which could suffer from malware, spyware, and viruses in the same way.
You can follow these simple steps to ensure your sensitive information and privacy are protected:
- How much is too much? – It goes without saying, it is obviously a terrible idea to post your personal phone number, credit card information or home address anywhere on the internet. You never know who will be able to see that information, even if you are sharing it with a closed network of friends. Only share information you are happy for people to see.
- Beware of people attempting to connect with you – Anyone can pretend to be whoever they want on the internet. Online scammers present themselves as honest people with an intention to gain access to your personal information for their own purposes. When in doubt, ignore the request or, better still, block the user in question.
- Respect your organisation's social media policies – Your company may have specific rules about what work-related events and activities they do and do not want to be discussed on social media.
- Optimise your privacy settings – Social media networks are not designed with your privacy in mind, and you will always have to make manual adjustments. Go into your privacy settings and see where things are set. Never leave any personal information set to be viewed by the public unless you are happy to do so. If you’re a stickler for privacy, there are many things you can set to only be visible to you, including your posts.
- Always trust your gut! – Ultimately, you should trust your gut. If you post close to none of your personal information on the internet, you are significantly reducing the risk to your personal security. Remember that you don’t have to make something public if you only want to share it with a small group of individuals. If people want to know something, they can ask, or you can send them a private message about it.
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