National Data Privacy Day
Each year on January 28, National Data Privacy Day serves as a reminder for consumers and companies to assess and enhance their privacy measures.
From social interactions to bank transactions, your personal data is more valuable than ever. With even the smallest bit of data, these expert criminals are capable of draining your bank accounts or event stealing your identity. Itโs up to you to stop them.
Here are some quick tips to enhance your data privacy:
- Two-factor authentication: This is basically a security feature for a device or an account that requires two separate forms of identification in order to access it. Enable this feature whenever possible for an added layer of security.
- Review privacy settings: Do a check-up on the settings of all your online accounts, like social media and shopping platforms. Make sure youโre aware of and comfortable with the amount of personal information being shared. Default settings are usually set up to gather as much information as they can before you notice.
- Know phishing attempts: Be skeptical of unsolicited messages avoid clicking on suspicious links. If you donโt recognize the sender and the subject line seems too good to be true, it probably is.
- Do regular software updates: Ever thought all those notifications that itโs time for a software update arenโt just to annoy you? Typically, these updates contain improved privacy and security methods and patch detected security flaws. Technology and hackers are constantly evolving, so you need to be, too.
- Say โbye-byeโ to public WiFi: Even when you have an unlimited cell phone data plan, logging onto public is still ever so tempting. Just know that scammers and hackers hangout at coffee shops and hotels, too. Instead, use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to encrypt your internet connection and safeguard your personal data.
- Clean your cookies: Youโve heard of baking cookies, but what about cleaning cookies? We all click โaccept cookiesโ out of ignorance โ but itโs time to put an end to that. By cleaning out cookies from your browser you will remove data from your device that advertisers have gathered on you, as well as alleviate the security risk of this information being hijacked.
Remember, protecting your financial information is a collaborative effort. While we ensure a secure banking environment, we encourage you to take an active role in securing your finances by staying informed and staying vigilant. For more information on data privacy, please visit www.PennCommunityBank.com.
