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Privacy

Privacy

There are two ways you put personal information out in cyber space.

  • Through what information you post about yourself online.
  • Through the information you share with companies when you set up accounts with them.

When you try to log into your account, some companies will ask if you want to use your FB to check into your account to them. This may seem like an easy option, but if you select yes, they get access to the information on your social media account.

Do you want that?

Once you post something online, you lose control of where information about you goes and who can use it. Your personal data is very valuable to

  • marketing companies
  • hackers
Top tips for preserving your privacy
  • Do not share or post your email and other contact details publicly.
  • Check the settings on your social media accounts: who can view your profile information, like phone number, shared posts, photos etc? Make sure they are set to friends only.
  • Be particularly careful with photos or other content that you would not want shared widely.
  • Also be careful when sharing material involving others. If you are sharing your friends’ and family photos with complete strangers – how might they feel about this?
  • Think what you post and share on social media as this your public image. When looking for new job, this is usually the first place where potential employer will find information about you.
  • Careful about taking online questionnaires and competitions. These might seem like harmless fun. But they do reveal things about you, your likes etc. The quizzes are created with the purpose to build a profile of you and your friends which is sold to marketing companies. The people creating those quizzes have one purpose in mind: to make money out of your data.
  • If using a device that is not yours, you can use the incognito mode which does not save any sensitive browsing data.
  • When downloading apps, you will be often asked to grant access to location services, address book(phone list), photos and videos, etc. Think for a moment and ask yourself before granting access – Is it really necessary for this application to have access to that data?
  • Take snapshots of bullying messages and report them