Data Privacy Day - Protecting Your Online Information

Data Privacy Day will be celebrated globally this January 28, 2021. This annual event was developed in an effort to create awareness about the importance of data protection and privacy.

This year the NCSA is encouraging individuals to “Own Their Privacy.” Research has shown that most Americans feel they have little control over the data companies collect from them. We have included some online safety tips to help you take charge of your data!

Tips to Protect Your Personal Data:

Manage your privacy settings: Set your privacy and data security settings to a comfortable level of sharing. Your personal information is like money and you need to protect it. You can manage your privacy settings for big companies https://staysafeonline.org/.

Click Carefully: Watch for false ads and offers from third-party websites. Verify validity by going directly to the company website instead of clicking on ads. You can learn more about how to shop safely in our blog 3 Tips to Protect Yourself From Fake Online Stores.

Secure Payments: When purchasing a new product or service, always check for the ‘S’ in HTTPS to ensure that a website is secure. The ‘S’ is provided by an SSL certificate that indicates data encryption, which protects sensitive information from being stolen. It is also recommended to use credit over debit as credit cards can offer you more protection.

Share With Caution: Your contact information, email address, and phone number are all sensitive data that need to be protected. It is recommended that you do not save your payment information when making an online transaction. Storing payment information puts you at risk of having your personal data stolen when companies get compromised in data breaches.

Check Your Accounts: Go through your statements from time to time. In order to prevent unauthorized transactions, you can set up alerts with your credit card company that notify you anytime a charge is made.

Create Unique Passwords: Don’t use passwords that include information that contains identifiable information. It is best practice to have different passwords for all your accounts. Using a password generator for creating long unique passwords can help keep your personal information safe.

Read the Privacy Policy: Always read a company’s privacy policy to prevent any unauthorized access. At Flags.com, we recognize that our customer privacy is important, to read our privacy policy visit https://www.flags.com/privacy-policy/.