Safety
Protecting devices and personal data
Learning outcome: After completing this module you will be able to protect your own devices and to understand online risks and threats, to know about safety and security measures and to understand common terms of service and active protection of personal data.
According to the European Commission: ‘Personal data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual. Different pieces of information, which collected together can lead to the identification of a particular person, also constitute personal data.’ (Source accessed 2020.04.23)
Examples of personal data could be: name, home address, email address, identification card number, location data from your mobile phone, data held by your doctor that could uniquely identify you, cookie IDs, Internet Protocol (IP) address og the advertising identifier of your phone. Data connected to digital devices you own are considered your personal data. Your company email is an example of what is NOT considered your personal data, according to the commission.
Protecting access to your data is key. Many online services lets you register with your Facebook, Google or LinkedIn account instead of creating a separate new account. However, it is better to register separately on websites each time. It takes longer, but it is worth doing.
Erasing frequently your browsing history, cache memory, cookies and other collected information is also a strategy that users should follow. There is also the option of setting a time when your collected browsing data can be automatically erased.
The option of incognito browsing is also an option although we must note that although it is called incognito, it is not one hundred per cent incognito browsing. It is browsing without cookies, history and some other data to be collected via your browser, but still, information is collected by the website host.
The most important advice: Make sure that your device obtains an antivirus software. This goes for your mobile phone as well as for your computer.
According to the European Commission: ‘Personal data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual. Different pieces of information, which collected together can lead to the identification of a particular person, also constitute personal data.’ (Source accessed 2020.04.23)
Examples of personal data could be: name, home address, email address, identification card number, location data from your mobile phone, data held by your doctor that could uniquely identify you, cookie IDs, Internet Protocol (IP) address og the advertising identifier of your phone. Data connected to digital devices you own are considered your personal data. Your company email is an example of what is NOT considered your personal data, according to the commission.
Protecting access to your data is key. Many online services lets you register with your Facebook, Google or LinkedIn account instead of creating a separate new account. However, it is better to register separately on websites each time. It takes longer, but it is worth doing.
Erasing frequently your browsing history, cache memory, cookies and other collected information is also a strategy that users should follow. There is also the option of setting a time when your collected browsing data can be automatically erased.
The option of incognito browsing is also an option although we must note that although it is called incognito, it is not one hundred per cent incognito browsing. It is browsing without cookies, history and some other data to be collected via your browser, but still, information is collected by the website host.
The most important advice: Make sure that your device obtains an antivirus software. This goes for your mobile phone as well as for your computer.
Exercises
