SIDEBAR Fall 2018 - 9

MONTGOMERYBAR.ORG

By Joel B. Bernbaum, Esq.

W

e are bombarded every day
with tweets, texts, likes,
retweets, friend requests,
emails, list serves, blogs, selfies, videos
and more. Data flying everywhere. How
many of you think about how much
personal information you are distributing
with or without your knowledge or
permission? How many of you know how
to manage your personal information and
dissemination?
Let's start with protecting your desktop
computer, your phone and your tablet.
Use a password to lock your devices.
Otherwise, anyone sitting at your desk
or looking at your phone or tablet can
access your data. The good news is that
recent upgrades to operating systems from
Microsoft and Apple offer assistance with
passwords and, in some instances, insert
them for you to allow easier login. If
you already did this, please remember to
change your passwords periodically and
don't use passwords associated with your
personal life like your birthday (yes you
can use numbers) or dog's name. Also, set
up a "guest" login for use by others than
you. Repeat this for your phone and tablet
as necessary.
Next, let's tackle social media. Set aside some time for you to
review your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., accounts. Each
one has settings for your profile (i.e. personal information) and
security settings. I'll use Facebook for example. Go to your home
page/login for Facebook. In the upper righthand corner is a down
pointing arrow. Select it and you see a dropdown list. Select
settings and you are taken to a page containing all your settings
that control your Facebook account. Select from the left-hand
side "Security and Login." Go through the selections and keep or
change as your wish. I would recommend changing your password

at the very least. Next, go to the "Privacy"
setting, again on the left side of the screen.
And once again, go through the selections.
If you have time and your stomach can
take it, go through the rest of the selections
on the left side and familiarize yourself
with the settings. Be careful and don't
change anything you are unsure about.
Make your changes one by one so you can
reverse something that doesn't work, or you
decide to undo.
Next, let's look at Twitter. Go to the
Twitter home page and select your icon in
the top left corner. Select it and you will
see a drop-down list for all your settings.
Review them one by one. Look at your
profile, change your password and go on to
the next. Again, go through each one and
see what you need to change to what you
need to control.
Go through your home page and other
frequent sites you visit. Review and revise
as necessary. Once you are done with your
desktop, go on to your smart phone and
other devices. Remember that any changes
on your operating system setting will,
generally, change your other devices using
the same operating system.
Hackers and spammers have become very sophisticated and
our privacy is constantly being tested. Do not visit off-beat or
suspect web sites. Keep online subscriptions to a minimum.
Take care and only give out your online information as needed.
Signing up for free trials, subscribing to email distribution lists,
sweepstakes, "further information," and other tricks are used to
harvest your email address and provide an opportunity to hack
your account. Gmail and Yahoo mail accounts are especially
vulnerable to hacking and spam emails.
Let's be safe out there!

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SIDEBAR Fall 2018

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