The 5 Most Common Mistakes That Violate Personal-Datas Protection

February 11, 2021 3 min read

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In Mexico, efforts have been made to guarantee the right to the protection of personal data, especially in order to provide greater security due to the use of digital media. Despite this, in a country where currently 80.6 million Mexicans are Internet users, there are still mistakes that are made that violate the security of personal information.

Diego Barrientos, instructor of Udemy , a global training platform for learning and teaching online, shares the five most common mistakes people make and compromise the security of personal data regardless of the device through which they connect.

1. Connect to open or public WiFi networks. As much as possible, avoid connecting to networks that are not your own or avoid entering pages in which you have to provide personal information. You can use the “incognito mode” function of the web browser, this will give you more security since the browser will not remember your passwords, cookies or search history.
2. Do not close the sessions at the end of the use of different social networks. Avoid leaving sessions open and minimize the risk of compromising personal information. In addition to always configuring social networks with the options that provide the highest level of privacy possible.
3. Place repeated passwords for different services (mail, social networks, electronic banking, etc.). Set strong and different passwords for each service you have, preferably that have more than ten characters, symbols and do not contain words from the dictionary.
4. Connect to insecure websites that start with HTTP ( Hyper Text Transfer Protocol ). Try to connect only to websites that start with HTTPS ( Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure ).
5. Download and run unknown email attachments. If you receive an email from a person or company to whom you have not shared your email address, or open it, send it directly to spam and block that account.

If users choose to connect through mobile devices, they should consider that these have more sensors and connectivity methods than a desktop or laptop, so they should consider the following recommendations to strengthen the security of their personal data.

1. Deactivate the geolocation (GPS) of your cell phone.
2. Do not install applications that ask for unnecessary permissions (for example, access to the camera and microphone for a calculator or flashlight app).
3. If you shop online, try to connect through your internet provider’s data network . Regardless of whether you do it with a credit card or bank transfer, avoid using a WiFi network.
4. Encrypt the content of cell phone memory cards to protect personal data in case of theft or loss. To do this, go to “Settings”, select “Security”, click on “Encrypt phone” and set a strong password and wait for the process to complete as it may take up to an hour.

Last but not least to safeguard your privacy, search for your first and last name on the internet to find out “how much the network knows about you” and ask to remove the information that appears about you on websites or social networks that you do not recognize or do not have consent. To do this, search the “offender” sites or social networks for the option that says “report abuse” and ask them to remove your data (they will ask you to verify your identity).