By Kaleigh Helm

With the frequency of daily data breaches every day, people have become desensitized to the effect a data breach can cause on an individual or business. Just one company data breach can affect millions of people.

In the first month of 2019, a data breach exposed more than 772,000,000 email addresses and 21 million passwords, which is a lot of information. The odds of you or someone you know having your data leaked are high, especially when it comes to business accounts or an online membership with a retailer.

There is significant risk as a business owner as the cost of an average data breach could be millions of dollars. A business may also have to deal with angry customers and workers whose information have been leaked. It is essential to make sure you have the correct Data Compromise & Cyber Liability Insurance because these breaches do happen.

So what can you do? Read on.

Turn off location tracking

Location tracking and history can allow social platforms and apps to track your digital footprints, making it easy for them to serve you personalized ads. You can turn off your Location Services on your phone for your social media apps and even your camera.

Revoke app and game permissions

Signing into some websites or apps using your Facebook or Gmail account makes life so much easier – or so we think. Doing so allows many sites to access all of your data, whether or not you realize it so that they can find more information about you. To prevent this – you can revoke permissions for third-party access to your Facebook or Google account through your account settings.

Create a burner email address

To gain back some privacy, you should consider creating a second email address. This could be an email address you use to log in to websites you don’t entirely trust but need to get into, or it can also be used when signing up for a membership at a store so you can get the extra 15% off your total. These email addresses wouldn’t link back to anything personal, and it makes things difficult for companies to track you. You could create an account for free through Gmail, but be sure not to link it to your main account. If you feel uncomfortable with the possibility of the accounts being linked, use a different email service than you usually use.

Focus on Password Safety

Remember to use a strong password and use different passwords for different accounts. To create a strong password – use a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters. If given the option, try to use two-factor authentication, which can make your accounts more secure.

Remember Email Safety

Everyone receives emails from unknown senders now and then – make sure not to click on any links or download any attachments from those anonymous emails. If you do, this can cause viruses on your computer, and if it’s a business account – you can put your whole company at risk.

Whether you work from home, at an office or are retired – it’s essential to keep your data secure. Speak to your friends and family about data security, and if you work at a large company, talk to your boss about security training.

Remember – technology provides many benefits, but it must be used responsibly.