International Data Privacy Day: Protecting Your Privacy In Cyberspace

Today is 28 January and is International Data Privacy Day. While it is not officially “celebrated” in Australia, it is a great initiative aimed at raising awareness about how personal online information of individuals, families, consumers and businesses can be protected. It is a day filled with dialogue on how we can all advance the protection and privacy of our data. Everytime we log onto the internet, data is being collected from us - knowing or unknowingly. You are leaving your digital footprint when you browse the internet, comment on social media, engage in Skype call, use an app or email. It details which sites we have visited along with personal information such as credit card and password details. While no doubt, data collection by businesses operating such websites are used for legitimate purposes, this is not always the case and there is the potential for misuse. What can be done about it? There is no one solution to this issue but it starts with managing the way you use the internet:

• Privacy settings check. Ensure that your browsers, devices and apps are turned off for personal data sharing. Often the default settings for webpages or apps such as Facebook are for data sharing.
• Review your browser’s cookies. Cookies on your browsers such as Chrome, Firefox and Safari should be switched to disabled to ensure your website activities are not tracked.
• Always be careful what public wifi networks your connected to. Dont open confidential sites such as your bank when your not on a trusted network.
• Ensure you have a good antivirus program and its upto data as well as your operating system.

  If you are a business, it is a good time as any to review your data privacy from the inside out. A great way to do this is to run an IT security audit. Click the following link to see how your business’s security measures up.