Privacy Resolutions for 2012

Every day you are making decisions about how much personal information you will share although you may not realize it. Online tracking systems have been tracking what you search for on the web, what you purchase, and what websites you visit - mostly without your permission. Privacy experts fear the eventual comingling of the advertizing tracking data with the increasingly sensitive, personal information that people willingly disclose on popular websites, applications, and social networks. In a USA Today article by Byron Acohido, published on August 4, 2011, Sagi Leizerov, the executive director of Ernst & Young's privacy services, warns: "It is a mistake to consider (online) tracking benign. It's both an opportunity for amazing connections of data as well as a time bomb of revealing personal information you assume will be kept private." So what 2012 resolutions can you make to protect your online privacy? 1) Resolve to read online privacy policies. Privacy policies are an invaluable source of information about what data a site will collect and track about you and how it will be collected, used, stored, and retained. It also should inform you about your rights to review and correct the data as well as provide you with options to opt out of the data collection and/or sharing of the data. Take the time to read just one. Companies have to spell out exactly what they will do with your data and they will do that in their privacy policy. 2) Opt-out and use any other privacy options offered. If uncomfortable, look for opportunities to opt-out of data collection and data sharing agreements - to disable tracking. Some search engines now allow you to do "private web browsing," where you can keep Google or Microsoft from storing information about your website visits. It does not, however, stop third party websites you visit from keeping records of your visit. Use only reputable, known vendors and websites because these companies are more likely to offer opt-out options and to honor your requests. Many times companies make opting out difficult, and in order to find it you may need to go back to resolution number one - read through their privacy policy. 3) Be vigilant about your privacy settings on social networking sites and picture/video sharing sites. The social networking site and picture/video sharing sites retain the rights to change their privacy settings, so review their privacy options frequently and carefully restrict who can see your information and your pictures/videos so that you are not openly sharing with strangers. 4) Use the options offered by your web browser. Use your web browser Help section to learn about the privacy and security features offered by the browser you use (Internet Explorer, Safari, Camino, Firefox, or Chrome, etc.). Each web browser is different, but each offers the ability to reject or delete unnecessary tracking files (i.e., cookies) and to clear caches of your browsing history, the list of sites visited, saved password, etc. Go to the browser Help and enter the word "privacy" - a wealth of information will be returned to aid you in setting the privacy to a level you are comfortable with. Resources: Several organizations promote consumer rights and providesinformation to help you make informed choices about how to minimize your risks and protect your personal privacy.

• Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: https://www.privacyrights.org/
• Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT): http://www.cdt.org/privacy/ See their Privacy Tips at http://www.cdt.org/privacy/guide/basic/tips.php
• FTC's Onguard Online: http://onguardonline.gov/articles/0009-computer-security