2018 TIP OF THE DAY 12

While you may think your personal information is actually personal, you’d be surprised how much information about you winds up online. Just do a search for yourself on Pipl, a people search directory, to see the personal details out there. (Go on, we’ll wait.) Chances are the search came up with your name, social media profiles and possibly even your parents’ names, address and telephone number too.

Pipl isn’t some secret hacker database. It’s just a repository of publicly available online data about individuals, all of which businesses and advertisers are eager to get their hands on. That’s right: this sort of data collection is completely legitimate, and a lot of it is pulled from information you put online.

Whether you’re worried about identity theft or you just don’t like the idea of other people tracking your every move, there are steps you can take to keep your private data private.

1. Password-protect everything.

2. Keep your computer virus-free.

3. Secure your browser.

4. Switch search engines.

5. Be careful what you share on social media.

6. Ask why others need your information.

7. Don’t fall for scams.

8. Only use software you trust.

9. Only use secure Wi-Fi connections.

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