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@cywf
Created October 13, 2023 21:31
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200+ Ways to Protect Your Privacy

Protecting Your Offline Privacy - at Home, in Public, and Everywhere In-Between

  1. Hang On to Your Privacy by "The Shred"
  2. Shut off the Junk Mail Data Siphon
  3. Watch out for falsely requested personal data via phone
  4. Protect your payment details when you order delivery food
  5. Don't fax private documents
  6. Lock up your personal private documents
  7. Only carry the necessities
  8. Keep your personal items close (and your personal data closer)
  9. Lock up your personal items at work
  10. Require a signature on your package deliveries
  11. Protect your packages by scheduling deliveries
  12. Use multiple addresses (and do it strategically)
  13. Have new checks mailed to you alternate address
  14. Put your mail on Hold During vacations or family trips
  15. Take your outgoing mail to the post office
  16. Never provide your social security number or drivers license number on a hand written form
  17. Avoid the free T-Shirt
  18. Don't put your key under the mat...hide it better than that
  19. Properly dispose of Prescription Medication bottles
  20. Don't keep private documents at work
  21. Go green (for your privacy and the planet) with paperless bills and statements
  22. Monitor your bank statement for unrecognized purchases (large and tiny)
  23. Be smarter than your smart home devices
  24. Stay savvy in the smart speaker crazy
  25. Turn off device cameras and microphones when not in use
  26. Make sure your smart home security system is secure
  27. Turn off your baby monitors when you are not using them
  28. Disconnect Your baby monitors from Wi-Fi
  29. Secure your wearable fitness tracker data
  30. Turn off one-click ordering with online retailers
  31. Beware of stranger danger
  32. Embrace the chip reader for debt payments
  33. No chip reader? Sign that dotted line then!
  34. Don't forget to sign out (especially on public computers or Wi-Fi)
  35. Always give the printer or copier a final glance
  36. Be picky about where you place your customer loyalties
  37. Don't share your birthday with every business or restaurant in town
  38. Watch for utility bills or charges you don't recognize
  39. Don't share streaming Video account passwords
  40. Use the alerts available on credit accounts
  41. Remove all personal information before selling, donating, or recycling and old computer
  42. Change your Passwords any time there's a privacy breach in the news
  43. Never write down your passwords at home or at work

Protecting the Privacy of Your Children (and teaching them to protect themselves)

  1. Don't let parental controls be your sole privacy solution for your kids
  2. Teach your children what privacy truly means (and show your work with examples)
  3. Opt for Initials Only on backpacks and Jackets
  4. Empower Children with the Privacy Protection Power of "No"
  5. Be the Wi-Fi Gatekeeper of your Household
  6. Create a code word or Gesture for privacy
  7. If there's an App for that...there should be a parent for it
  8. Other online risks kids should know
  9. Oversee and surveys, forms, or giveaways
  10. Disable location settings and discourage social media check-ins
  11. Be smart about luggage tags (and teach kids to plan ahead)
  12. Be a privacy advocate at your child's school
  13. Oversee all online shopping in your household
  14. Uphold an open dialogue policy in your home surrounding privacy concerns
  15. Teach your children not to share your home Wi-Fi password
  16. Never disclose your spare key location or share your home security code
  17. Help you children set up their privacy settings on social media accounts
  18. Teach your children about private posts and pictures
  19. Teach your children to say something if they see something
  20. Caution kids about the friends-of-friends loophole
  21. Teach Children to be on the lookout for copycat "friends"
  22. Teach your children to never share photos of strangers online
  23. Teach your children to never share their phone pin
  24. Carefully monitor online gaming
  25. Don't allow your children to game with strangers
  26. Disable chat in online games
  27. Centralize the location of your family computer
  28. Teach your children everything new you learn about privacy protection

Strategies for Protecting Yourself and Your Private Data on Mobile Devices

  1. Secure all of your devices with strong passwords or PIN's
  2. Check the permissions on preloaded apps
  3. Watch for unexplained diminished battery life
  4. Don't allow any notifications on your lock screen
  5. Pay attention to sudden surges in your data usage or phone bill
  6. Avoid using Data or Wi-Fi at a crowded event, festival, or demonstration
  7. Take advantage of content filters
  8. Auto-lock your screens
  9. Get off the phone grid with alternate phone numbers
  10. Forward your alternate phone number to your personal mobile phone number
  11. Understand the risks of biometric Device protection
  12. Don't unlock your phone with your face
  13. Disable bluetooth when you're not using it
  14. Research apps before you install them on your mobile devices
  15. Pay attention to what apps ask to access
  16. Manually adjust app settings
  17. Remove app access to your camera
  18. Block apps from microphone access
  19. Password protect your apps
  20. Make sure apps don't continue running in the background
  21. Avoid clicking any link delivered via text
  22. Keep messaging apps off your mobile
  23. Don't sync messaging apps to your personal contacts
  24. Enable phone-finding and remote-wipe features or apps on your phone
  25. Restore your device to factory settings and wipe your phone before Selling, Upgrading, or Donating it
  26. Don't Get Personal on Public Wi-Fi
  27. Use your data to connect while traveling or in public places
  28. Don't answer or respond to the unknown
  29. Permanently block calls or texts from suspicious numbers
  30. Stay diligent during mobile and media mergers
  31. Delete messages you receive when recovering or resetting an account password
  32. Double down with two-factor authentication
  33. Delete any apps or accounts you no longer use
  34. Consider paid apps over free ones
  35. Take social media apps off your phone
  36. Sync your smart phone with your smartwatch
  37. Never change your phone at a public charging station

Strategies and Best Practices for Staying Safe and Protecting Your Privacy Online

  1. Upgrade Your router regularly
  2. Put protections in place to block Malware and Viruses (and run updates often)
  3. Upgrade you passwords to Passphrases
  4. Browse safely with HTTPS sites only
  5. Don't save or Auto-Fill passwords in your browser
  6. Keep your head in the cloud services you use
  7. Say No to cookies
  8. Clear your cookies, Cache, and browser history often
  9. Be stingy with your clicks
  10. Embrace the peace (and peace of mind) of Blocking Ads
  11. Make sure every computer in your home has a firewall
  12. Don't get reeled in by Phishers
  13. Empower your privacy by powering down devices
  14. Change assigned passwords immediately
  15. Read Privacy Policies for Any accounts, profiles, or purchases online
  16. Password protect online documents and shared files
  17. Be cautious when sharing files through free chat programs
  18. Never share passwords on Public Wi-Fi
  19. Encrypt data stored on USB Drives or SIM cards
  20. Always have a back-up plan for your personal information
  21. Declare a Weekly data cleanup day
  22. Sign up for free credit monitoring with your bank or credit card company
  23. Contact credit monitoring bureaus (in writing) to prohibit data sharing
  24. Monitor your credit report regularly and look for anything suspicious
  25. Disable your webcam when it's not in use (Plus a Nifty tape trick)
  26. Don't go anywhere online that you'd be embarrassed for others to see
  27. Trust your intuition
  28. Always protect your last four
  29. Get silly with your security questions
  30. Set up a junk email account
  31. Never shop on public wifi
  32. Keep private matters like taxes and banking to private, secured connections
  33. Use caution in popular searches
  34. Setup a browser alert for your name
  35. Use an online identity monitoring service

How to Enjoy Social Media While Retaining Your Privacy

  1. Personalize your Ad preferences and experiences
  2. Keep your relationship status between you and your significant other
  3. Hide your friend list
  4. Make all your photos and albums private
  5. Limit access to your posts (Even the older ones)
  6. Leave groups or parties others have invited you to without your permission
  7. Put controls in place for posts and comments
  8. Hide your personal information (or better yet, remove it entirely)
  9. Change your passwords frequently
  10. Notify friends if your profile goes funky
  11. Use common courtesy as your guideline for information sharing
  12. Be direct with family and friends about maintaining your privacy
  13. Avoid Info-grubbing ploys on social media
  14. Turn off your location in your social media profiles and accounts
  15. Wait until you're back home to post vacation details and photos
  16. Don't share photos of your children in the bath, nude, or in other embarrassing situations
  17. Don't give away your children's identity with their birth details
  18. Create private photo albums just for family and selected friends
  19. Keep you address out of your online photos
  20. Beware of "Too good to be true" Syndrome
  21. Remember: Online posts have a very long self life
  22. Be Cautious about profile sharing on any of your Social Professional Accounts
  23. Don't share data with third-party apps
  24. Practice Conscious sharing
  25. Block anyone you don't want to connect with professionally
  26. Control who can message you on social platforms
  27. Beware of the social media survey
  28. Never send money via social channels
  29. And don't send money via chat apps either

Strategies for Protecting Yourself and Your Privacy in Email, Online Classifieds, and Online Dating

  1. Choose a reputable Email Provider
  2. Use a VPN to protect remote connections
  3. There's NO Nigerian Prince (and other email scams to avoid)
  4. The IRS doesn't do email
  5. Beware of any emails declaring you a winner
  6. Know how to spot (and avoid) ransomeware risks
  7. Be skeptical of emails requesting you "Log Back In"
  8. If you don't know the sender, delete the email
  9. Never open attachments or zip files from unknown senders
  10. Mark unwanted email as spam
  11. Dump your spam box daily
  12. Ignore (and delete) crisis-based emails
  13. Be wary of emails asking for help
  14. Watch for emails from names you know (but look or feel "off")
  15. Use reverse image search to validate photos in online classified ads
  16. Look for typos, spelling, and grammar errors, or odd characters and text in online classified ads
  17. Give preference to online classified listings with a phone number (preferably local)
  18. Beware of texting scams initiated in online classifieds
  19. Use a secure email service when selling items on a classifieds site
  20. Be cautious about switching communication mediums during a classifieds conversation
  21. Never pay for an item you haven't seen in person
  22. Don't display your home address in any ads you post to the classifieds
  23. Don't use photo's that display personal details
  24. Never show items for sale inside your home
  25. Leave your family and pets out of classifieds photos
  26. Read the classifieds rules as inspiration (and follow them too of course)
  27. Know how to validate online dating profiles
  28. Know how to spot catfishing ploys on dating sites
  29. Use the dating website or app chat until you establish trust
  30. Always meet in public until you get to know someone from an online dating site
  31. Don't leave your personal items unattended on a date
  32. Remember: alcohol clouds judgement
  33. Be cautious of urgent requests for help or money on dating sites

Despite Your Best Intentions - Recovering from a Privacy Breach

  1. Know the common signs your accounts have been hacked or compromised
  2. Change your passwords immediately (All of them)
  3. Verify You were impacted by a privacy breach
  4. Alert your bank and credit card companies
  5. Contact credit bureaus and dispute any fraudulent charges or collections
  6. Monitor your credit carefully
  7. Issue a credit freeze
  8. Order new credit and debit cards Identify which devices were impacted
  9. Identify which devices were impacted
  10. Regain control of your accounts
  11. Delete accounts or start new ones
  12. Don't accept help from random individuals or companies after a data breach
  13. Consider cyberattack insurance (but do your research)
  14. Don't blame yourself, but learn from your experience
  15. Share your story to help others protect their privacy
  16. Make your privacy a priority
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