January 26, 2022 —Although we live in a digital world, many give little thought to keeping our personal data private. Our appetite for new digital technologies and 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 to raise awareness and promote 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 collecting and using it.
What can you do to 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 weighing it against the benefits you may get.
- Manage your privacy. Every device, application, and browser has features that limit how and with whom you share your personal information. Visit the National Cybersecurity Alliance’s Manage Your Privacy Settings page to check social media accounts, retail stores, apps, and more settings.
- Protect your data. Create long, unique passwords and store them in a password manager. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) wherever possible to add another layer of security. According to Microsoft, a two-step MFA blocks 99.9% of automated attacks and can ensure your data is protected, even during a data breach.
Visit the National Cybersecurity Alliance for more information about how to protect your data.
Remember, data privacy is everyone’s business!