Given the potential for problems if your personal info gets in the wrong hands, are you taking steps to guard it?
Yes, having some personal details out there can lead to financial, work, and other such issues.
With that in mind, what measures should you be taking to safeguard as much of your personal life as possible?
Be Smart on what Gets Out
When it comes to protecting what is most important to you, here are some things to keep in mind:
1. Be vigilant –
It can be easy to slip up and let something out there that only you should know. That said do your best to know what personal info should get out and those who should have access to it. So, if one calls or mails you asking for your Social Security number, commonsense should tell you be wary. While there are instances when you do need to provide that number or other details, be smart about who gets it. If you are not careful, you could be on the wrong end of a financial scam.
2. Knowing who you are talking to –
Another area to focus on would be who you are talking to in the first place. As an example, do you get a lot of phone calls that are from people you do not know? If so, how good of a job do you do in trying to figure out who is calling you? One option when trying to answer who called me is to use online resources to track down the origin of the call. Doing this can more times than not let you know if you want to talk to that individual now or at some other point. While many calls oftentimes are legit, you want to steer clear of those that are not worth your time.
3. Protecting physical safety –
Along with protecting info, also protect your physical safety. That said be careful when it comes to who knows things like your phone number, where you live and work, and so on. For instance, are you spending time now in the online dating world? If the answer is yes, you want to be extra careful with the kind of personal info you put out there. Get to know someone well before divulging any pertinent personal details. It is also good to let someone close in your life know when you are first going to meet someone. Let a family member, close friend, roommate know your plans. If meeting someone, do it in a public venue too. Once you get to know a date and are comfortable around each other you can then plan things a little differently.
4. Being safe online –
Last, how safe are you when you get online for work or personal matters? It is a good idea to have an anti-virus program running on your computer. In the event you are using a public computer such as at a hotel or library, do not do any financial matters and the like. Being cautious is always better than giving out personal info online. That is when you can’t be sure the computer is 100 percent safe.
In protecting your personal info, you lessen the chances of having to deal with misery.
