As 2024 progresses, many people are focused on New Year’s resolutions ranging from the standard staples of eating healthier, quitting smoking, catching up with family and so on. Online privacy and safety may not be at the top of such lists.
Nonetheless, online privacy and Internet safety are important areas of focus according to Virginia Tech information privacy and cybersecurity experts and co-founders of Voices of Privacy, France Bélanger and Donna Wertalik.
The two academics state now is also a good time to make resolutions about protecting your and your loved ones’ information in the digital world.
Wertalik and Bélanger turn these thoughts into concrete action by recommending people perform a digital clean-up and consider privacy in digital health.
Wertalik explains in a statement to Digital Journal: “A digital clean-up is revisiting what you share online and getting ready for the new year with enhanced privacy and security. Of course there are basic steps like changing passwords, deleting old files, clearing out digital photo albums that come to mind.”
The two academics recommend that users consider:
Close old accounts
If you never log-in, shut them down so a little less of you is online. These accounts may be using old passwords or have weak security that put you at risk of someone hacking into them.
Remove unused apps
The more apps on your smartphone, the more power and storage space they consume. That in turn affects performance and likely shares a lot of information about you. They can also be used as a gateway to hack your phone if they have vulnerabilities. Whatever you don’t delete, check the settings to see what they have access to on your phone, e.g., camera, microphone.
Check all privacy settings
Have you done updates recently? If you have, did you recheck privacy settings after each? If not, it is possible that some settings were turned on or off by default, or that new settings exist. Fortunately, many apps have started to ask for you to confirm your privacy settings. Nevertheless, now is the time to decide again what you agree to share with which app.
Reduce push notifications
Other than phone and text messages. Push notifications have been shown to reduce productivity and increase stress.
Perform a social media clean-up
Studies show that 4-6 hours of social media a day leads to increased isolation and depression. Now is the time to remove extra apps because by not being easily accessible, your focus will go up. An additional step for those with iPhones would be to use the focus mode. With this, you can customize your day with “do not disturb” and set who you want to receive messages from and when.
Use of technology to manage your health is referred to as digital health, which can include using apps, for example, to lose weight, eat better, or exercise more. “Digital Health goes beyond just apps, to also include streaming or digital training systems like Peloton that connect you to other people,” says Wertalik.
