Protect your Personal Information
Identity theft is one of the dangers of losing personal information.
Identity theft is the term used when someone pretends to be you and is able to take actions as if you were taking them yourself. The harm from such actions ranges from someone sending an email message pretending to be you, to the perpetrator stealing money from your bank account or obtaining and using credit cards in your name and going on a spending spree.
The circle of damage may extend further to gaining access to your confidential records and to resources to which you have access, both at work and at home.
The potential damages from such actions are enormous, and they can be very difficult, if not impossible to repair.
Sources of Personal Information
Nowadays, the majority of our personal information is available in an electronic format and stored in various places such as our own computers and on other institutions’ computers with which we deal on a regular basis. These institutions may include government agencies, our workplace, schools, universities, banks, online retailers, social media sites, etc.
Much of this confidential information is needed by others to conduct business with us, so we accept the risk of sharing it with them with the expectation of full privacy. With the explosive growth of the Internet and social media sites, we tend to share personal information with the world at large. This includes locations, travel plans, photos, contact information, family and other relations, etc.
The Risks
With this wealth of information available online about a person, it has become relatively easy to “steal” one’s identity by providing information that was in the past very personal and unknown to many.
The threats to the confidentiality of such information is also increasing with time. There are many examples of security breaches in the news, many of which touch our lives in one way or another. In many cases, especially when financial institutions' systems are breached, our most confidential information is leaked to a world of criminals who are use it for financial and other gains.
How do we Minimize the Risk?
There are many guidelines that we can adopt to help protect our information. Unfortunately, none of them guarantees full privacy and security. The best that we can do is not to expose our personal information to others, whenever possible. This can be a very difficult task, but here are some recommendations to guard our information:
- Before sharing any information with another person or entity:
- Make sure that you understand the reasons for sharing the information and what security measures are followed to protect its privacy.
- Understand the sensitivity of the information that you are providing. If applicable, follow the guidelines set by the data owner to secure the information.
- Share only the information that is required to conduct business with others.
- Tip: When answering personal questions, share answers that you use for that purpose only. If your Facebook page or your email template uses a lot of blue color, a person with malicious intent may think that your favorite color is actually blue. When asked about your favorite color as a privacy question, answer with "red" for example. This will minimize the risk of someone guessing your answer based on your publically available information.
- Closely follow the security tips provided elsewhere on this site about best practices when choosing a password, communicating by email, surfing the Internet, and while doing other activities online.
- Contact us to report any suspicious activities.
