Tips to Protect Your Privacy in Our Technology-driven World

As a technophile who is considering pursuing a career in IT, you undoubtedly have a healthy respect for the way technology can help us in our professional and personal lives. From social media that connects us, search engines that teach us and online tools that help us, tech is a huge part of our days. So now here comes the big worry: How to protect your online privacy?

As we use these tech tools more often and sometimes share our personal info, privacy concerns can become more of an issue. The last few weeks have been filled with news stories about how Facebook may have used our personal data in nefarious ways; these stories highlight how much of our info is “out there” and how it can end up in the wrong hands. Fortunately, it is still possible to protect our privacy, even in our tech-driven world. With that in mind, check out the following ideas:

1. Use the power of AI, not the cloud

Thanks to innovative technology, platforms do not have to depend on the cloud. With the advent of artificial intelligence, which is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon mobile platform, AI can run on our home and work devices without the cloud.

This helps protect privacy by not requiring information to be shared with online servers in order for the devices to work. Increased privacy is a standard feature of the Snapdragon platform, along with high performance for AI features and applications.

2. Use a password manager

In order to keep your information as private, secure as possible and efficiently protect your privacy at home and at work, start by never using the same password in more than one place. This means every app on your phone uses a unique and strong password, as does every website you frequent on your computer.

Since most people have so many different logins to remember, it can be challenging to recall which combo of capital letters and symbols we use to access our bank account app or Netflix account.

To make this as easy as possible, consider using a password manager that will help you to make passwords that are super hard to guess.

If you are unsure which one to choose, some great options are Zoho Vault and Dashlane.

Instead of using your first born’s name and her age for your password (which is not the most secure password on Earth), a password manager will let you come up with long and random combos of letters and numbers that it will safely remember for you.

Read also: Too Many Passwords – How to Remember Them All?

3. Take steps to secure your home devices

While it is very cool (literally and figuratively) to turn down your A/C with the help of an app on your smartphone and you love using a voice-controlled system like Alexa to order your pizza and check the weather, these systems may pose a privacy risk.

You should take steps to secure your entire home network; start with your internet-enabled voice assistants by patching the devices and using a unique Wi-Fi password (with the help of the aforementioned password manager). Change the default name of the connected devices and consider renaming your voice assistant.

Conclusion

It is quite possible to use the innovative technology that we have at our fingertips without compromising our privacy and security. By being aware of common risks, like cloud-based tech and easily-guessed passwords, and taking tangible steps to use AI-powered devices, practice good “password hygiene” and securing those nifty gadgets we use every day, we can enjoy all of the benefits of tech and protect our privacy without the hassles of hacking.

[Image via: Google Images]