Ninja dressed in black

The Bad Guys

Digital Security, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, Privacy, Privacy Matters, Red Flags, Safety Tips

REMEMBER THIS: The bad guys no longer just wear dark clothing and carry concealed…

REMEMBER THIS: The bad guys no longer just wear dark clothing and carry concealed weapons! No, they are always around us, snooping into our lives and causing havoc. They invade us by using the meta-data available in our photos, tracking us on social media and other social platforms, cracking our passwords and hacking into our bank accounts, stealing our identities and even spending our hard-earned money! (We have millions of stories to tell about this!) They invade our lives by knowing who we are, what we purchase or intend to purchase and where we are going every day (location tracking). They invade our lives by saving an entire database of everything we do, say and think, and use it to benefit their pockets!

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF:

Never post information to social media regarding travel plans, upcoming vacations, out-of-town visits, or other information that will let the public know you will be away from home for an extended time. Wait until you return to post these awesome photos! If you want to share with friends or family while you are away, send in a text message from your phone. This will keep your travel plans as private as possible. Check out our Resources Center to provide more guidelines.

The list here is long! So, we have created a privacy protection document in our Resources Center to outline a variety of simple steps. There is no need to be overwhelmed when trying to follow the steps since we have also provided the step-by-step process to complete each small task. You can implement them all at once, or pick one or two to accomplish each week. Either way, it will be much better than the open settings you have now that come pre-set in your devices.

To protect your browsing activity, clear out the cookies on your browser EVERY TIME you finish using your computer. It only takes a few second! This way, there are no more tracking cookies stored and shared with 3rd parties the next time you open your browser. To learn how to do this, take a look at this article for more information, or visit our Resource Center for a guide named “Safe Browsing on a Computer”. Each of the browser settings is different (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc.) so choose the one that applies to your browser. If you use more than one browser, review all that apply.

This guideline is important, and very few people know this! When you visit a medical clinic, spa, car dealership, or any entity that shoves a digital box with a black pencil for you to sign, DON’T DO IT! First, ask someone for a full copy of the documents for which you are signing. It is your LEGAL RIGHT to do so! Why? Well, believe it our not, some of these trusted entities have secret paragraphs they don’t want us to know. When you sign this pen pad without looking at those documents, you are agreeing to any and everything in those documents. Once, at a trusted medical facility, I asked to see the hard copy of the documents for which I was signing and learned I was about to legally agree for them to SELL MY INFORMATION! That’s right! “Data is King” in the digital age, my friend, and don’t think for one second that these companies care about your privacy. This “Marketing Policy” was on the very last page of the documents, way down at the bottom! So, to be safe, just ask kindly, and read over the hard copy before signing anything! This is true in our personal lives, as well as in business. Think about it… Would you sign a business or legal document without reading it first? No!

These are only a few of the many ways you can protect your privacy. See our Resources Center for other guidelines.

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