AARP Protecting Yourself Online For Dummies

Nancy C. Muir, Ryan C. Williams

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN: 9781118903056
• eBook ISBN: 9781118920336
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Cyber Security
• Index: Computer Science

Protect your privacy and use the internet safely!

Don't let news about internet risks deter you from taking full advantage of its benefits! The web is such an amazing and useful resource for connecting with friends and family, shopping, banking, catching up on current events, and getting help in a myriad of ways. Let AARP's Protecting Yourself Online For Dummies arm you with the information you need to use the internet with confidence. You'll learn:

• How and why risks can occur
• Steps to protect yourself from identity theft, fraud, and e-mail scams
• Expert tips for creating strong passwords and storing them safely
• Information you need to keep your online banking and shopping accounts safe

By reading this guide and following a few safety precautions, you can be confident and risk-free as you enjoy a connected, digital life online!

Chapter 1

Safeguarding Your Identity

In This Chapter

Identifying private information and where it is online

Keeping your private information private

Eliminating privacy pests

Taking swift and effective action if your identity is stolen

It’s all too easy to share information about yourself online these days, whether you’re active in social media or shopping online. Overall, this book helps you guard your online activity, and this chapter specifically helps you understand the kind of information that you’re asked to provide online and the potential ramifications that can occur if that information falls into the wrong hands.

By using your personal information, identity thieves can “party hard” on your nickel and your good credit reputation. They spend like there’s no tomorrow because they know that someone else (you) is picking up the tab.

Identity thieves can use your personal information to open accounts, such as a cellphone account, in your name. Of course, they skip paying the bills and continue to use the phone until you discover the theft and take action; then they drop that account and move on to another unsuspecting victim. Worse, even major corporations that you trust can be compromised and leak your information whether you do anything wrong or not.

Assessing Your Information

To get started, take stock of the information you may have out there on the Internet and the risk it poses if it’s stolen. Sensitive information involves numbers and other key facts about you that together comprise your paper and online identities. The vulnerable personal information that identity thieves use is described in this list:

• Social Security number (SSN): Your 9-digit personal identification number (assigned by the federal government) is the key to the kingdom for identity thieves: The identity thief uses your SSN to apply for credit, file false tax returns, get a job, open bank accounts, and so on.
• Date of birth (DOB): A DOB is a piece of the personal information puzzle that really isn’t a problem if that’s all the information the bad guys have, but put together with other information, it lets an identity thief become you.
• Security questions: You see these questions — asking for your first pet’s name and where you attended high school, for example — when you’re setting up an online account.
• Mother’s maiden name: This name is used to verify your identity when accessing financial information.
  

  Security questions have begun to include a father’s middle name as well. Everybody gets equal time!
• Personal identification numbers (PINs): These are usually 4- (or more) digit numbers used to access your bank accounts online or when using your ATM card.
• Passwords: Your passwords — which are the keys to any information stored electronically — are discussed in detail in Chapter 3.
• Driver’s license number: A thief who has your driver’s license number can make a phony license that shows your name and driver’s license number with his picture.
• Social media posts: This information can convey where you live — or even where you are right this minute — your alma mater, your likes and dislikes, and other information that people can use to form a complete picture of who you are. Think about all the information you’ve distributed on these networks (both new and old — hello, MySpace and Friendster!) and how likely it is that somebody could unearth this information by looking quickly on a search engine. Even if you deactivate or delete your account, that information can still be accessible via cached searches and archives.

Give only the minimum information necessary to any online source, and make sure you know who’s receiving the information.

Protecting Your Privacy

After assessing information but before posting that information on a social networking site such as Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter, carefully review your privacy settings. Sharing publicly is the default, and you have to go out of your way to not do so.

When posting information that appears on a public website, such as when you leave comments on articles you read, offer reviews of restaurants or movies, or post in any discussion venue, don’t use your full name. This advice doesn’t apply if you’re working in a business context, such as posting information on your company’s website.

Never provide your name, address, phone number, Social Security number, or drivers license number to someone you don’t know.

Never believe anyone who says that he’s from Facebook tech support, eBay fraud prevention, PayPal administration, your bank, or a similar-sounding authority and asks you for your password. No legitimate entity will ever ask you for your password.

Be especially careful about disclosing information about kids. Don’t fill out profiles that ask for a kid’s name, hometown, school, age, address, or phone number, because they’re invariably used for “targeted marketing” (also known as junk mail).

Dealing with Privacy Thieves

So if you control who accesses your information, how is it that people still find a way to creep into your online life and ask you for more? Let’s take a look at the most common ways to access details about you on the Internet.

How thieves obtain your info

Here you are, sitting and reading this book about passwords. Can you begin to hear the faint scratches of the privacy pests as they claw away at the walls of your electronic security?

No? Then it’s time to start looking in some of the mustier corners of your daily activities to see whether you can spot any telltale signs. As an example, look at an everyday action, such as buying a book. The last time you bought a book online, did you buy it …

• Over the Internet? Did the website ask you for any personally identifiable information — your mailing address, perhaps, or an e-mail address? By downloading a book over the Internet, for example, you reveal certain information about yourself to the bookseller. As you continue to read this book, someone at the site may be adding that information to all the other personal data that has already been collected about you based on all the other items you’ve purchased — or even just looked at — while on that website.
• While browsing the web at home? If so, you may have revealed to your Internet service provider (ISP) some information about yourself, including your interests and purchasing habits. As you continue reading, someone may be adding that information to all the other personal data that’s already been collected about you based on all the places you’ve surfed and the things you’ve bought online.
• While browsing the web at work? If so, you may have revealed to your employer some information about yourself. Luckily, you weren’t looking for job-hunting books. Oops! You were looking for those, too? Whatever the case, someone may be adding that information to your personnel file now, along with all the other personal data that’s already been collected about you because your employer has the legal right to monitor you and record every move you make on the Internet while you’re at work.
• Using an insecure Internet browser? If you’re using an older Internet browser or if you have neglected to update your browser when newer versions are available, you may be making yourself more vulnerable. You may have revealed information about yourself to a hacker in a faraway place who may have already targeted you as the one whose credit card number will buy her a new video game system — or maybe even a wardrobe or new car. While you’re reading now, she may be busy collecting additional information and building an intimate profile of you that she can use to fraudulently spend your money, online and offline.

Follow these steps to help reduce your privacy concerns when buying online or performing other transactions with sensitive data:

• Don’t submit your personal information on computers you don’t own. This includes your work computer. If you don’t want people seeing what you’re typing or viewing on the Internet, restrict your activity to your own computer. Your boss will probably be happier that way, too.
• Set your web browser to private browsing. The gist of the private browsing function is that the browser doesn’t store cookies or track browser history while in this mode. You may forego some of the convenience of browsing the web, but you gain a measure of privacy. Different browsers name the feature differently: Chrome calls it Incognito Mode, Internet Explorer calls it In-Private Browsing, Firefox calls it Stealth Mode, and Safari calls it Private Browsing. All browsers have the feature accessible easily via their main menu (the Safari menu in that browser).
• Don’t give out personal information, including your e-mail address. Even if you’re trying to win a fabulous prize, be aware that the company running the contest wants your personal information to better track and market to you. Opt out of any mailings or consider the e-mails you get a trade-off for the service you sign up for, and maybe even use a dedicated e-mail account for the spam you’ll likely receive if the lure of the prize is too great.

What to look for in privacy policies

Have you ever seen the magicians Penn & Teller vow never to show you how their magic tricks are done — and then play the old shell game with a small ball hidden under one of three clear plastic cups so that you can see exactly how they perform the trick?

We are about to perform the privacy lawyer’s equivalent of that trick by showing you what you should look for in a privacy statement as though you were reading it through the clear plastic lenses of the sneakiest, most cynical lawyer in town. Ask yourself whether a website’s privacy policy tells you

• Explicitly what information the website is collecting: Is the site getting your name and address? Your e-mail address? The IP address of your computer? Your credit card number? The combination to your gym locker or to the hidden safe in the den? If the site doesn’t say exactly what information it’s collecting, you should assume the worst.
• How your information will be used: Here’s where the most advertising-speak usually happens, and you have to read carefully to figure out what the site is saying before deciding whether to register on the site. Will the company drive you crazy by sending you catalogs by snail mail and e-mailing you ads by the dozens? Will it sell your personal information to other advertisers? Is the benefit it offers in return — a promo code, coupon, or advance notice of sales, for example — worth any potential annoyance?
• Whether and how you can opt out of having the site collect information about you: Some sites offer you the option to opt out of the data collection. For example, you may have a choice to set up a personal account so you can return to the site without reentering your information, or to use a generic guest account whi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Safeguarding Your Identity
• Chapter 2: Protecting Yourself from Viruses, Spyware, and Scams
• Chapter 3: Password Secrets
• Chapter 4: Risk-Free E-Mail
• Chapter 5: Shopping and Banking Safely
• Chapter 6: Ten Things You Can Do Today to Protect Yourself
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