How to Keep Personal Data Safe in Apps and Social Networks

Many user actions are monitored by analysts, marketers and artificial intelligence, whose goal is to create the perfect content for each client.

Most applications on a smartphone have access to your card code. When you pay for fitness online, the program can save not only payment information, but also personal data. For the convenience of users, delivery often means including your address in the contact database. Given the complexity and specificity of modern technologies, developers do not always prioritize privacy and anonymity when using popular applications. We receive targeted ads by talking to a specific topic over the phone, and the content of our social media feeds is generated by tracking likes and comments. Many user actions are monitored by analysts, marketers and artificial intelligence, whose goal is to create the perfect content for each client.

The founder of the adblocking service 1Blocker Salavat Khasanov tells how to minimize the risks of publishing data in the digital field and how to use applications safely.

Explore All Available Information

How often are you asked to accept the rules in an app or website but there is no alternative? It seems that there are several options for solutions, although in fact the answer is binary and comes down to agreeing with the privacy policy or refusing to use the resource. This is how all social networks function, for example: in order to register, you need to accept their terms of use without the possibility of making any changes there. For example, recently there was a major data ta breach among What's App users. It is these cases that lead to the fact that companies start calling and endlessly offering their services.

What Should Be Done?

1. Use the "Settings" in the smartphone itself, in addition to changing the options in the application.
2. Explore the aggregator site and information field.
3. Carefully read the instructions on the website and the options displayed in your browser.

Follow the Terms of Use

Simple rules include enabling geolocation, creating different passwords for new resources, regularly updating information and clearing the history in the browser.

If you correctly dispose of the freedoms (choice in providing information, indicating your personal data, updating payment information), which the application gives, most of the data can be secured. When creating various passwords on your devices, do not write them down in your smartphone notes. If your data is still in the public domain, most likely, this piece of information will also be available to attackers. There are special programs that allow you to safely store personal information. You can also use the old, but still effective methods, for example, write down your password by subtracting a number from the last two digits. For example, your password, but you write yourself in your notes, keeping in mind that you need to subtract 10 from everything written down. Also, do not forget about the logic: there are only 10 numbers, but there are 33 letters. therefore, alpha passwords are harder to crack. Think also about how the attackers themselves act: the hacking process has long been automated. For example, most passwords are pushed through an electronic dictionary first. The solution can be a random set of letters or numbers, which you have to select manually, or playing with keyboard layouts when you type a word in on an English layout.

Use passwords that are automatically generated. This option is built into Apple devices. When creating a new password, any device will offer you an automatically generated set of letters and numbers, which has a high degree of protection. Also, in the browser, you can set the settings, according to which this password will be filled in automatically on your device, but it is not saved in the cloud. This will be a safe and convenient option if you use a certain type of application on the same gadget (for example, call a taxi or order food delivery only from your phone).

Use Trusted Services

Use large and proven resources. The downside is that you are unlikely to be able to win a lawsuit in the event of a data breach. On the plus side, companies have already invested billions in their brand and positive image, they will do everything not to lose it. It will be most convenient to give priority to a specific ecosystem, for access to the resources of which one password is suitable. The creation of a single account eliminates the need to remember dozens of passwords while opening up opportunities for connecting different types of services.

Plus, IT giants have both the human and financial resources to keep your data safe. Moreover, they often offer large sums of money to find flaws in their system. Due to the monopolization of this market, companies can hire the best programmers who calculate the risks and offer users options to reduce them: these are the very situations when the generated password is not accepted without numbers, special characters or capital letters.

The largest market players also practice storing passwords, including Google Chrome, which will remember and ensure the security of not only the password, but also banking data. Due to this, you do not have to fill out a payment form every time on various sites, the browser itself will offer available options for credit information.

There are specialized options for storing banking information, As the public understands, aggregators are free antivirus protection, but they offer much more options, including webcam control, spyware detection, and encryption of online payments.

You can also use your mailbox as a single base, the main thing is to protect it. Create a backup mail, deny login without two-factor authentication, and set the need to confirm the login from a second device. After completing all these steps, you can easily specify this mail as login and recover passwords securely if necessary.

Store Passwords In Special Applications

Despite the fact that storing data on different media is dangerous, in the modern world it is impossible to do without it. Even if you fundamentally do not register on social networks and have never flipped through the Instagram feed in your life, you use government services and the banking system. And this is information about your material wealth, marital status and address of residence. In this case, it is difficult to protect information on your own. But there are several steps to make the process safe:

Be careful what data you provide. Copy or save all your passwords. Use additional protection methods offered by applications.

Store passwords that are similar or created on the same principle from the most important resources on different sources in order to gain access to information about your bank account stored in one application; the hacker could not get to your passport data, which is available on another service, where the password was created in the same way. Duplicate information, as this helps create more "unknown units", which means it makes the process of picking, searching and hacking more difficult and longer.

It is also very important to carefully and regularly check whether your passwords have been cracked. For this, there are separate services that you should add to your browser "bookmarks". One of them involves checking the integrity of passwords by checking the email address - Have I been Pwned. It is worth choosing the most convenient application or site from this category, especially if you suspect that someone may have used your page or data.

If I do everything, my data will never be stolen?"

Keeping up to date with trends and following basic online security tips is essential, but it's important to remember that this can never guarantee complete data safety. Check your social media pages regularly for hacks, update your passwords several times a year, and monitor any strange transactions taking place on your accounts or in your offers. And remember that the developers do this for you, don't be afraid to contact support for help and advice!

Don't Be Afraid to Ask for Help and Advice

Explore industry and professional resources to share expertise and help you avoid common mistakes. Very often, useful information can be found on forums dedicated to a specific topic. Remember that the creators of applications themselves are interested in ensuring that personal data remains available only to a limited number of people. Banking aggregators have tutorials to form an understanding of why you are providing information and how it will be used in the future to improve the service. Do not be afraid to write to the support chats or official mail if in doubt. Clarify how the data is encrypted, how storage is implemented, and whether you can omit certain parameters.