One You Blog

I know I should…

This or That

When it comes to the behaviors that can prevent identity theft and privacy breeches this sentence is all to common.  Most of us have been to the training class or read the website that gave us the basics.  Don’t open attachments from email senders you don’t know, don’t download files, don’t give out information over the phone, always type in the urls of your online banking sites.  It is a familiar routine.  Why don’t we do those things?  The answer is simple, because we are lazy, and changing habits is hard.

That is why today we are going to look at some of those common mistakes and solutions that even the laziest of web browsers can implement.

Issue: Typing in your banks Url’s…

Solution: Type them in once and bookmark them.  Once you do this you can simply click on the name.

Issue: Remembering a truly random password, or several, is hard.

This is where a basic knowledge of chess pays off.  The knight in chess moves forward one and over two.  You can do the same thing to make a random password.  Choose a letter and move in this pattern for a per specified number of digit’s (say, 8) and then add a set of significant set of digits.  Then all you have to remember is the letter, and the digits.  S29 isn’t so hard to remember.

Paying bills when the company calls is simpler.

Get the numbers for the 1-800 services that you call from the toll free 411 service and program them into your phone.  When you get a call simply tell them you will call right back.  Then call back, and you can be sure you are talking to the right people.

See, there is always a way to be safe without having to make things too complex.

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Protecting Your Privacy on Social Networks

Facebook Mat

When you sign up for a social networking site you are probably thinking about hooking up with old friends, not about your privacy.  The thing is that you need to worry about it, because the companies who run these sites may share your information.  Even if they do not share, on some sites can simply make that information available by way of any search engine.  Depending on what information that you give out the results can range from mere annoyance to outright theft of your private information.  So how do you decide how much information to put on a social networking site.

1. Figure out how much information is displayed on the public profile that anyone who finds you on a search engine or for people who are not on your friends list.
2. Get access, if you can, to an existing account and find out how much information is shown.  You may not want your co-workers to see your home address.

These are your two primary areas of voluntary information dispersal.  Your next job is to read over the terms of service (TOS) on the site.  Look for both conspicuous language about sharing information with select partners’ and less obvious phrases like, “Reserved rights to user data transfers”.  This usually means marketing, but should give you pause.  Those terms are broad enough to encompass anything.

Information you should never post:

* Full home address
* Social security number
* Bank names or account types/numbers
* Earnings or debts
* Professional license numbers

There it is, your brief guide to what (and what not) to put on social networking sites.

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Reading The Terms of Service

Magnifying Glass

When you sign up for an account on a site do you really read the terms of service?  If so then you are in the minority.  Most people breeze by it without any, thought and just click on “accept”.  Now as a realistic person, living in the real world, I know you aren’t going to comb them.  At least not all of them.  That’s why we are going to take a look at some of the essential sections that you at least need to skim.

Content ownership rights: You probably don’t want to assign copyright to the site of anything you write or post.  Be doubly aware of terms that allow for alteration of your content.

Partner companies or any information sharing sections: Be very wary of any section that allows sites to share information without restrictions.  Look for an opt out section and note that information.

Terms changes sections: Most contracts allow for terms to be changed at will.  A good contract should let you know that you will be notified of those changes.

Any sections regarding fees: Obviously this one only applies to paid sites, but you will want to be aware of hidden (or automatic) fees.

See, four sections isn’t that bad.  It shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes.  Not bad when you consider that it will protect your privacy and your wallet.

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Welcome To The One You Security Blog

Thanks for coming by. One You Security is a company that helps people protect their own and their family’s identity. In today’s information age, privacy and identity are complex subjects and that’s what we’ll be exploring here.

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