Data Privacy Day

From the Data Privacy Day 2010 website:

Data Privacy Day is an international celebration of the dignity of the individual expressed through personal information. In this networked world, in which we are thoroughly digitized, with our identities, locations, actions, purchases, associations, movements, and histories stored as so many bits and bytes, we have to ask – who is collecting all of this – what are they doing with it – with whom are they sharing it? Most of all, individuals are asking ‘How can I protect my information from being misused?’ These are reasonable questions to ask – we should all want to know the answers.

From GeekDad:

But the day is not just about big companies protecting their data, it’s also about you protecting your own data.

You are responsible for your own online activity. You may just be the reason that your privacy is breached. In looking at a recent data breach, “123456″, “12345″, “123456789″ and “password” were the most common passwords.

and

Security experts advise that a password should consist of letters, numbers and even punctuation symbols. They should be changed regularly and you should not use the same password for all your online services.

You are responsible for your kids. The Data Privacy Day 2010 website has some great resources for Teens, Young Adults, and Parents & Kids. Take a look at the FTC’s You Are Here to see some of the problems faced by kids online. Make sure to Visit the Security Plaza to learn about protecting their privacy (online and off). Make sure they have good passwords and understand the privacy implications.

[h/t: GeekDad]