Respecting Privacy, Safeguarding Data and Enabling Trust is the theme for Data Privacy Day (DPD), an international effort held annually on January 28 to create awareness about the importance of privacy and protecting personal information.  Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe.

Read and digest the tips below, then share them with your family, friends and community to help them become more privacy-savvy. Use these research-based privacy tips to get the conversation started.

Share With Care

• What you post can last a lifetime: Before posting online think about how it might be perceived now and in the future and who might see it.
• Own your online presence: Set the privacy and security settings on web services and devices to your comfort level for information sharing. It’s ok to limit how and with whom you share information.
• Be aware of what’s being shared: Be aware that when you share a post, picture or video online, you may also be revealing information about others. Be thoughtful when and how you share information about others.
• Post only about others as you have them post about you: The golden rule applies online as well.

Personal Information Is Like Money. Value It. Protect It.

• Think before you act: Be wary of communications that implore you to act immediately, offer something that sounds too good to be true or ask for personal information.
• Lock Down Your Login: Fortify your online accounts by enabling the strongest authentication tools available, such as biometrics, security keys or a unique one-time code through an app on your mobile device. Your usernames and passwords are not enough to protect key accounts like email, banking and social media.