NPEI Celebrating Data Privacy Week

This week of January 22 to January 28 is Data Privacy Week! Data Privacy Week is an international effort held annually to create awareness about the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding data and enabling trust. It is a week to promote privacy and data protection best practices. Within any organization, employees may believe that the responsibility for data privacy lies solely with the IT department, however it is crucial that all company employees are aware of their role in protecting data.

NPEI keeps our customers safe by making data privacy a priority. We all have to do our part, both at work and in our personal lives to make sure we’re protecting our personal data.

Below are some tips to help you protect your data!

• Just like you change your home’s smoke detector batteries during daylight savings, Privacy week is an excellent time to update your old passwords.
• Put a pin or swipe password on your mobile device and tablets and set them to lock automatically after inactivity
• Secure your wireless network – ensure you have a strong password as to avoid hitchhikers on your WiFi
• Turn off your computer when you aren’t using it – leaving it on opens the door for rogue attacks
• A “passphrase” is stronger than a “password”
• Check and configure your phone’s app privacy settings – you’d be surprised at the permissions some of them have
• Encrypt your data – lots of publicly available tools have taken the rocket science out of encrypting emails and files
• Turn off your Bluetooth when you aren’t using it
• Avoid transactions on public WiFi – wait until you are on a secure connection
• Log off or lock your computer when you get up
• Store data no longer than you need to – delete it when you’re done
• Never store passwords in a text file or Word document