Data Privacy: The Importance of Online Awareness

No matter our job, age, or any other differences we have – we are all consumers. And almost all of us have personal information on the internet. After giving or receiving gifts like new devices or video games over the holiday season, it is important for consumers to take stock of their – and their family’s – data privacy and online security practices.

While any day is a good day to this this – Data Privacy Day on January 28 is the perfect opportunity for taking inventory and making improvements to minimize the risk of identity theft, online account takeovers, and misuse of personal data. It is especially important for parents to help keep their kids safe during phone, tablet, or computer use. Parents can take the following steps with their children to secure their devices and build good online habits:

· Set up parental controls to reinforce good habits and create safer spaces for kids to learn and play online. Some parental controls can disable in-app purchases or require a special parent password to make them.

· Talk about internet safety regularly – not just in one conversation. Depending on their age, parents should repeatedly engage their children in conversations about keeping personal information private, safety tips for social media and video game chat rooms, ‘digital footprints,’ and online scams.

· Use age-appropriate supervision and limits. Parents of younger children should consider limiting device use to certain times or spaces, using accounts the parents/guardians can access, having conversations about what they see and do online, and require their children to use specific privacy settings for their online accounts.

Additionally, here are tips the whole family can benefit from, including parents:

· Turn on automatic updates for devices, apps, web browsers, and operating systems – especially new devices. This will help protect against malware.

· Create strong passwords, including unique passwords for each account. Older children can be taught to use a password manager and multifactor authentication (MFA).

Disable automatic log-ins to new apps. Saving passwords on a device could lead to unintentionally sharing that password with apps that don’t need it, potentially compromising the password.

· Think before clicking. Links, ads, and downloads can lead to malware and scam attempts – and scammers know how to trick consumers of all ages.

· Assess what permissions and data an app really needs before downloading it. Some apps need access to certain information or device capabilities in order to function, but many apps ask for permissions that they don’t really need. Pay close attention and only give apps access to what is necessary.