6 Ways to Manage Your Privacy Online

If you have an online presence at all, you need to make sure to manage your privacy. From social accounts like Facebook to online games and more, every account you have should have privacy settings. How you set these accounts will determine how others see you online.

Keep Separate Passwords

Though you may not specifically need a separate password for every website you use, it's a smart idea to use more than one password. Keep your passwords difficult to guess. Don't use your kid's or pet's name. Your birthday or anniversary doesn't make for a great pin. Come up with something unique that is a combination of letters and numbers. Make sure that it is something that is difficult to guess, but is simple enough that you can remember it. Using multiple passwords across your accounts will help keep you from having multiple accounts broken into if someone discovers one of your passwords.

Check Privacy Statements

One of the first things you need to do before giving any website your personal information is to check their privacy statement. Understanding how a site will collect and use your information is an important step in managing your online reputation.

Be Careful About What Information You Give

Are you comfortable giving all of your information to every website you sign up for? Be careful about what information you give out. In most cases, you don't want to give highly private information, such as your social security number.

Keep an Eye on What You Post

It's even more important that you are careful about what you post online. If you give a company your private information, such as your address, they are responsible for keeping that information safe. However, if you post that information on a social networking site, it is out there for the world to see. Once it is out there, anyone can access it. Keep private info private. In addition to this, don't post things you wouldn't want others to see, such as drinking pictures or argumentative status updates.

Clear Your Cache, Cookies, and History

If you really are concerned about your privacy, make sure to regularly clear your cache, cookies, and browsing history. This can keep your browsing profile more private from those who would use this information in marketing campaigns. Though this information may not seem like a big deal to some, it's a huge deal to others.

Don't Respond to Spammers

If you get an email from a spammer, don't respond at all. Many times these are sent to hundreds or thousands of potential email addresses at once. If you respond at all, you are telling those who run the scam that they have hit on a valid email address. Along with this, don't give your information to scammy websites that ask for your email address or physical address in exchange for a prize. Rarely, if ever, will you get the prize, but you will get harassed.

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