privacy

1. Don’t post your information. It will always be distributed, compiled, and sold no matter how well you think you’ve locked it down. Preventing information flow on the Internet is virtually impossible. If you post it, it’s out there forever. You have to believe this.
2. All photos are public. If you take a picture and it ever touches the Internet, you have to assume that photo is out there forever. To be safe, never take photos of anything sensitive such as the front of your house, your driver’s license, or your passport.
3. If a service is free, you are the product, usually in the form of your data. Never forget every business seeks a profit.
4. Review your privacy settings regularly. This can help reduce your exposure, but you should still never share sensitive information.
5. Carefully scrutinize all requests. Don’t take requests for your information lightly. Take your time, and any attempts to rush you is a glaring red flag that you’re dealing with a scammer. Do business physically where possible, such as in person at your actual bank instead of over the phone where you could be speaking to anybody.
6. Foster a humble ego. This makes you harder to exploit by scammers, and it means you’ll spend less time talking about yourself and risking accidental over-sharing. Recognize that most people don’t need to know and don’t care about you.
7. Foster independence. The cloud is just someone else’s computer that you don’t control. Manage your own information and keep it local to your devices.

Privacy is a process not a destination, but I think these ideas will help you get started. You need to use your brain. Privacy comes from being a private person, maintaining control of your information and your business.