How to Protect Your Online Identity
Protect your personal data as you protect your money, and don’t leave it out open so that others might misuse it. Lots of people are extra careful with personal information such as birth certificate or national identity card number. You place them safely and don’t keep them lying around so that others can take unfair advantage of the information.
However, you do reveal your personal things to your friends or the people you trust. As a result, you should protect your online information in order to stay away from trouble. Criminals or hackers can use your personal data and can use it to impersonate you.
If your identity is stolen by someone, he can remove money from your bank account, claim loans in your name, commit a crime using your identity, and can also destroy your credit rating. Therefore, it is very important to keep these documents safe and away from the reach of the people you find suspicious.
Instructions
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Ways to protect online identity
Set a difficult password that is hard to retain for most people, and do not tell it to another soul. It is advisable to use a password consisting of numbers, letters and punctuation that is about eight characters. Keep constant checks on your bank account and billing records so that you are aware of any potential theft in the early stages.
Have different email addresses for newsgroups and shopping purposes. This can help you change the other address without hampering your business activity. Just tell your main email address to your friends. Moreover, you need to be careful while signing up to mailing lists. Also buy stuff online from websites that have a sound privacy policy.
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Don’t reveal everything online
You need to be cautious over how much data you can post online. You can suffer from big risks when you reveal your addresses, telephone numbers and date of birth. Identity theft, stalking and harassment can be easily done if someone has all your personal information. Also, while using social sites such as Facebook and Orkut make sure to put privacy settings.
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Things you need to know if your identity is stolen
First, call your bank and withhold all transactions. Change your passwords and inform the police authorities as soon as possible. All notify the relevant websites. Check your credit and transaction records for misuse of finances. Keep in touch with all the concerned people to find out the thief.
