How to protect your privacy online
Anytime you’re creating an account online, there’s a chance someone else could gain access. It’s important to keep all of your accounts locked down to ensure there aren’t strangers poking around in your details, especially when you have saved payment methods or other personal data.
You may think more trivial websites and apps don’t need a serious password, since there isn’t anything personal stored there, but that’s a dangerous misconception. Hackers can do a surprising amount of damage with very little personal information, so you want to protect every account that’s connected to your email address(es).
From bank accounts and email addresses to loyalty programs and silly games, here are some smart ways to protect your privacy online …
Use social media logins, when available.
Buttons that invite you to sign up for a new account via Facebook or Gmail mean you’re not at risk of entering a password that can be stolen or guessed. (Just make sure your socials and emails are secure, with two-factor authentication.)
Use strong passwords.
Hackers are getting smarter, especially with the help of A.I. This means something that was considered a strong password a couple of years ago is now (probably) pretty easy to hack. Use a unique combination of lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
Never repeat passwords.
Even if you choose a stellar password, it won’t help if it gets leaked. Then the hacker can quickly use it to log into all of your other accounts, and suddenly you’re compromised with a capital C. Use a different strong password for each account you create.
Don’t write your passwords down.
“But how will I remember them all?!” We’re lookin’ at you, Uncle Ken with your little blue notebook of carefully jotted passwords. There’s a better solution for knowing which password goes with which account, and it’s called a password manager. (See next tip.)
Use a password manager.
Tools like 1Password and LastPass let you lock away ALL of your unique passwords in a secure digital vault. Then you only have to remember one single password (the key to this vault) in order to unlock all of your other passwords. There are even handy Chrome extensions that make it easy for you to unlock the vault whenever a website is asking you for a log-in.
Use two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever possible.
Two-factor authentication means a password alone is not enough — there’s another layer to security to confirm you’re really the account holder. Protect your privacy by setting up 2FA whenever it’s available. Instead of sending codes to a phone number that could be spoofed, the strongest form of 2FA is a free authenticator app like Google Authenticator.
Regular check to see if your email has been compromised.
Companies don’t always send you an email if there’s been a data breach, so sometimes you’ll have no idea anything has happened. We recommend regularly checking your email address with a secure site like Have I Been Pwned. It’s completely free to use, and it shows if your email address has ever been involved in a data breach.
Don’t share passwords or log-in credentials.
If you need another person to access one of your accounts, don’t share the password via email, social media DM, text message, or any other channel where someone else might see the content. If it’s absolutely necessary to share a log-in, use a tool like 1Password or LastPass to share the details securely. Another method is to send them the username or email address in one channel, but verbally tell them the password.
Take action if you notice suspicious behaviour.
If you receive a notification about a log-in (or other activity) that you don’t recognize, act quickly. Change your account password to log out of the account on all devices, check to see if your email has been compromised, and report the activity to the company.
Questions about how to protect your privacy online? Need help changing your aloSIM password? Our team is available 24/7, so please reach out anytime via email (support@alosim.com) or live chat.