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Protecting Your Privacy
Before submitting your email address or other personal information
online, you need to be sure that the privacy of that information will
be protected. To protect your identity and prevent an attacker from
easily accessing additional information about you, avoid providing
certain personal information such as your birth date and social
security number online.
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How do you know if your privacy is being protected?
- Privacy policy - Before submitting your name, email
address, or other personal information on a web site, look for the
site's privacy policy. This policy should state how the information
will be used and whether or not the information will be distributed to
other organizations. Companies sometimes share information with
partner vendors who offer related products or may offer options to
subscribe to particular mailing lists. Look for indications that you
are being added to mailing lists by default—failing to deselect
those options may lead to unwanted spam. If you cannot find a privacy
policy on a web site, consider contacting the company to inquire about
the policy before you submit personal information, or find an
alternate site. Privacy policies sometimes change, so you may want to
review them periodically.
- Evidence that your information is being encrypted - To
protect attackers from hijacking your information, any personal
information submitted online should be encrypted so that it can only
be read by the appropriate recipient. Many sites use SSL, or secure
sockets layer, to encrypt information. Indications that your
information will be encrypted include a URL that begins with "https:"
instead of "http:" and a lock icon in the bottom right corner of the
window. Some sites also indicate whether the data is encrypted when it
is stored. If data is encrypted in transit but stored insecurely, an
attacker who is able to break into the vendor's system could access
your personal information.
What additional steps can you take to protect your privacy?
- Do business with credible companies - Before supplying any
information online, consider the answers to the following questions:
do you trust the business? is it an established organization with a
credible reputation? does the information on the site suggest that
there is a concern for the privacy of user information? is there
legitimate contact information provided?
- Do not use your primary email address in online
submissions - Submitting your email address could result in
spam. If you do not want your primary email account flooded with
unwanted messages, consider opening an additional email account for
use online.. Make sure to log in to the account on a regular
basis in case the vendor sends information about changes to policies.
- Avoid submitting credit card information online - Some
companies offer a phone number you can use to provide your credit card
information. Although this does not guarantee that the information
will not be compromised, it eliminates the possibility that attackers
will be able to hijack it during the submission process.
- Devote one credit card to online purchases - To minimize
the potential damage of an attacker gaining access to your credit card
information, consider opening a credit card account for use only
online. Keep a minimum credit line on the account to limit the amount
of charges an attacker can accumulate.
- Avoid using debit cards for online purchases - Credit
cards usually offer some protection against identity theft and may
limit the monetary amount you will be responsible for paying. Debit
cards, however, do not offer that protection. Because the charges are
immediately deducted from your account, and attacker who obtains your
account information may empty your bank account before you even
realize it.
Related Internet Security Information:
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