January 26, 2022 —Although we live in a digital world, many of us give little thought to keeping our personal data private. Our appetite for new digital technologies and our reliance on them to manage nearly every aspect of our lives demands we rethink what we share about ourselves, how we share it, and with whom. That’s why January 28 is Data Privacy Day, an international event aimed at raising awareness and promoting privacy and data protection best practices to individuals and families. Data Privacy Week, January 24-28, also encourages businesses to respect customer data and be more transparent about how they collect and use it.
What can you do stay safe online?
- Understand the privacy/convenience tradeoff. Make informed decisions about sharing your data with certain businesses by considering the amount of personal information they request and weigh it against the benefits you may get in return.
- Manage your privacy. Every device, application and browser has features to limit how and with whom you share your personal information. Visit the National Cybersecurity Alliance’s Manage Your Privacy Settings page to check settings for social media accounts, retail stores, apps and more.
- Protect your data. Keep your data secure by creating long, unique passwords and store them in a password manager. Add another layer of security by enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) wherever possible. According to Microsoft, a two-step MFA blocks 99.9% of automated attacks and can ensure your data is protected, even in the event of a data breach.
Visit the National Cybersecurity Alliance for more information about how to protect your data.
Remember, data privacy is everyone’s business!