How to Protect Yourself Online

According to Larry Magid, technology journalist and CEO and co-founder of ConnectSafely.org, “…while it’s true that there are some privacy and security risks that are beyond our control, there is a lot we can do to protect ourselves.”

First and foremost, create strong passwords that are easy for you to remember but difficult for others to guess. Magid’s favorite technique is to make up a phrase such as: “I met Susan Smith in New York in 1995.” Then, use the first letter of each word, capitalizing proper nouns, to form: ImSSiNY#1995.  This can then be customized by adding two or three letters or different symbols to avoid using the same password on multiple sites.

Magid underscores the importance of understanding and configuring the security and privacy settings for each service you use. “For Google,” he says, “you can go to myaccount.google.com to view and control security and privacy settings for most Google services.”  For Facebook, “start by clicking on the little lock with the 3 horizontal lines near the upper right of your screen when signed-in on the web.”

Details on how to configure settings on Google and Facebook, and links to privacy and security information for these and other popular services including Instagram, Snapchat and LinkedIn are available at ConnectSafely.org/privacysettings.

If you have concerns about your child, you can arrange a free 30-minute Care Consultation to explore options with an expert. We invite you to call or email our Care Coordinators at 650.688.3625 or careteam@chconline.org to set up an initial Parent Consultation appointment.