PROTECTING YOUR IDENTITY
PROTECTING YOUR IDENTITY
Here are more tips for protecting your identity from Jonathan Swartz, financial adviser with the Bennett Thrasher accounting firm in Atlanta, and others:
■ Secure smartphones, computers and tablets with passwords, location software and the ability to erase the data if one is lost or stolen.
■ Erase data when upgrading or getting rid of old devices. Or remove hard drives from old computers and scratch the drive surface deeply with a hard tool before disposal.
■ Put your name on do-not-mail lists by visiting
1.usa.gov/QXIAii. Or pay a
service such as Trusted ID to clean up your online existence.
■ Restrict your information on social media, and limit the people who can see it by regularly checking and adjusting your privacy settings.
■ Don't give out your ZIP code to retailers. Knowing your ZIP code allows them to easily find your entire address so they can send you unwanted mail, such as credit card applications, which can be stolen.
■ Put a Google Alert on your name by going to google.com/alerts.
Search engines will automatically email you if your name pops up anywhere on the Internet. If you discover public information that could damage your reputation or puts your privacy at risk, contact the source and ask them to remove the information.
■ Create strong, complex passwords that are difficult to hack, even for a professional. An example would be - a line from a poem that you
Here are more tips for protecting your identity from Jonathan Swartz, financial adviser with the Bennett Thrasher accounting firm in Atlanta, and others:
■ Secure smartphones, computers and tablets with passwords, location software and the ability to erase the data if one is lost or stolen.
■ Erase data when upgrading or getting rid of old devices. Or remove hard drives from old computers and scratch the drive surface deeply with a hard tool before disposal.
■ Put your name on do-not-mail lists by visiting
1.usa.gov/QXIAii. Or pay a
service such as Trusted ID to clean up your online existence.
■ Restrict your information on social media, and limit the people who can see it by regularly checking and adjusting your privacy settings.
■ Don't give out your ZIP code to retailers. Knowing your ZIP code allows them to easily find your entire address so they can send you unwanted mail, such as credit card applications, which can be stolen.
■ Put a Google Alert on your name by going to google.com/alerts.
Search engines will automatically email you if your name pops up anywhere on the Internet. If you discover public information that could damage your reputation or puts your privacy at risk, contact the source and ask them to remove the information.
■ Create strong, complex passwords that are difficult to hack, even for a professional. An example would be - a line from a poem that you
are familiar with - using the first letter of each word.
Comments
Post a Comment