The Power to Take Charge of Your Data – National Data Privacy Day 2025

This year, the theme for National Data Privacy Day is “You have the power to take charge of your data.”

Every year, on Jan. 28, we celebrate National Data Privacy Day. Established in 2007, this day is to raise awareness of cybercrimes. It highlights the importance of protecting your devices and online presence and taking action to ensure the security of your sensitive information.

People value their privacy, especially in the constantly developing world of technology. In today’s world, it might feel like a privilege rather than a right to have your online information and history private. While it is hard to remain 100% anonymous and private, you can take some steps to regain control of what information is given to who or what.

Here are some tips to control your privacy online:

Password Protection

Venture into your profile settings and look for the privacy settings. Changing your passwords frequently or activating Multi-Factor Authentication when possible is important.

Use phrases only you might think of, and if possible, add caps throughout the phrase and special characters (!,@,#,$,%,& are some examples). This ensures the password is lengthy and unique.

Do not share your password with anyone. If you do need to share your password with a trusted family member or friend, make sure you change it frequently. No official or professional will ask for your password over the phone or via email.

Sharing Data with Apps

Have you ever downloaded an app and suddenly received a pop-up asking for permission to access your information? Applications you download on your devices can look at your location, contacts, email, and camera, but only if you allow them to. Here is some advice to think about before hitting the ‘allow’ button.

Apps trying to access your information often disguise themselves as simple games until they ask to access information on your phone or have you log into another application to continue playing.

Does the application need to know these things to function? Why would a game app need to look into your contacts and location?

If you want to ensure that you are not oversharing your information, you can always check your settings and adjust what information is relevant to share and which information does not make sense.

Monetary Transactions

When shopping online, it is important to avoid entering your card information without verifying the validity of the website where you are shopping. Use trusted transaction apps. Do your research on said apps, look at reviews, and ensure they make sense and are not artificially generated to provide false 5-star reviews.

Be wary when you are asked to invest your money in cryptocurrency. No official or professional will ask you to pay them through gift cards or cryptocurrency.

Keep Track of Your Emails

It is important to delete emails you no longer use. Think of email accounts as tree roots, and they are all connected to you. If an email you forgot you had gets hacked, despite how old the account is, they can still find their way to your main email or use your old email for nefarious reasons. Anything they do with your email will be connected to you.

Cover Your Webcam

Webcams function as windows into your physical surroundings. Whether at work or home, you do not want anyone looking into your life and watching you go about your day. It is an uncomfortable thought. Hackers can break into cameras connected to the internet or Bluetooth. The best way to deal with this is to cover your cameras whenever they are not in use or unplug them if possible.

To recognize National Data Privacy Day this year, share these tips with people who might find this informative. Remind them that their information is valuable, and it is crucial to take precautions to protect their privacy before it is too late.

For more information and to learn more, visit Stay Safe Online.

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