In honour of Data Privacy Week (Jan 21-27) and International Data Privacy Day (Jan 28), Anthony Fear, our Chief Information Officer, and Claire Milton, University Secretary & General Counsel, Privacy Officer, have teamed up to tell you more about the importance of data protection.
All your online activity generates a trail of data.
Websites, apps, and services collect data on your behaviors, interests, and purchases. Sometimes, this includes personal data, like your Social Security and driver's license numbers. It can even include data about your physical self, like health data – think about how a smartwatch counts and records how many steps you take.
Here are some simple, easy tips that will help you manage your personal data privacy:
Know the tradeoff between privacy and convenience
Make informed decisions about sharing your data with businesses or services:
Is the service, app, or game worth the amount or type of personal data they want in return?
Can you control your data privacy and still use the service?
Is the data requested even relevant for the app or service (e.g. "why does a Solitaire game need to know all my contacts")?
If you haven't used an app, service, or account in several months, is it worth keeping around knowing that it might be collecting and sharing your data?
Adjust settings to your comfort level
Check the privacy and security settings for every app, account, or device: generally, it's wise share less data, not more.
Start small, and over time, you'll make a habit of adjusting all your settings to your comfort. The National Cybersecurity Alliance has free resources like the Manage Your Privacy Settings page that lets you check the settings of social media accounts, retail stores, apps and more.
Protect your data
Data privacy and data security go hand-in-hand. Along with managing your data privacy settings, follow the “Core 4”:
Create long (at least 16 characters), unique passwords for each account and device. Use a password manager to store each password – maintaining dozens of passwords securely is now easier than ever.
Turn on multifactor authentication (MFA) wherever it is permitted – this keeps your data safe even if your password is compromised.
Turn on automatic device, software, and browser updates, or make sure you install updates as soon as they are available.
Learn how to identify phishing messages, which can be sent as emails, texts, or direct messages.
From the Privacy Officer
The University has a Privacy Policy. Take a few moments to review the Policy to learn about the University’s approach to privacy protection. You can also review resources and information at Privacy at SMU. Protecting privacy and respecting confidentiality is everyone’s responsibility!
For more information about Data Privacy Week, visit https://staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-week/. The Privacy Officer is always available to answer questions at privacy@smu.ca