13 simple things you can do to protect your online privacy

New Delhi: The Web is a wild place. Given that nowadays lots of people want to be at different social media channels, it becomes easy for others to access your personal information online through various mediums. Even people who think they are very careful about they do online could be vulnerable to a cyber attack – particularly if they allow third-party applications to access their profiles.In recent past, a growing number of incidences have been reported related to the data theft on the internet. So much so that a vast majority of online security experts have started to believe that conventional passwords are no more reliable and new and creative methods need to be introduced.Here are some tips you should keep in mind to protect your information:1. Exclude important personal information from your social media profiles Giving personal information like phone number, address, children's age or school can all present ways for hackers to get more knowledge. On Facebook, this means minimising the details in your 'About Me' section and being selective about hitting the 'like' button, and culling any 'friends' you don't know. 2. Password protect your devices Digital devices should be encrypted with passwords and have auto-lockout enabled to insure that data stored on the device is not available to others if the device is lost or stolen.3. Do not leave personal data in the cloud Online file-syncing services like Google Drive, SkyDrive and Dropbox have made things extremely convenient for many internet users. Clouds often do not offer data encryption and can leave your data vulnerable. Depending on the data you wish to store in the cloud, you should ensure that it is encrypted both in flight and at rest. Also keep in mind that companies offering these online services can witness technical problems, financial difficulties or even be sentenced by a court. So, before you choose, have a look at the FAQ and terms of services and conditions.4. Protect your online passwords with strong alpha-numeric combination When creating a password, make sure it is long and strong, with a minimum of eight characters and a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symobls.And remember to:Not share your password with others.Make your password unique.Have a different password for each online account.Write down your password and store it in a safe place away from your computer.Change your password several times a year.5. Use Multi-Factor Authentication Multi-factor authentication is a great way to protect your information online. Given the rising risks of information security, you should use more than one method for verification. A lot of financial organizations and individuals, who cannot afford to lose their data, have adopted this strategy in recent times.6. Check your phone's privacy settings Turn off your GPS location settings to keep your family's whereabouts more private.7. Watch out for 'phishing' emails The recent trend shows more sophistication in terms spam emails. Never respond to any emails with account info or passwords. Banks will never ever ask for your information in this way. You can call the bank directly if you are in doubt.8. Keep your communications networks secure Protect your Wi-Fi through a password so that hackers in the local area can't use your connection to carry out malicious activity.9. Check for the https:// Before entering payment details into any website, check the web address has an 's' – which stands for secure – after the http. If it doesn't, don't use it.10. Keep an eye on your bank statements This isn't absolutely necessary, but keep an eagle eye out for any unfamiliar transactions to recipients you've never heard of.11. Clear your browser history and cookies on a regular basis If you shrugging it off for a long period of time then think again! Consider changing your browser settings so that this is automatically cleared every session. Go to the “privacy” setting in your Browser's “Options.” Tell it to “never remember your history.” This will reduce the amount you're tracked online. 12. Use an IP Masker To hide your online footprint, you can download Tor or use an easy browser-based option like HideMyAss.com.13. Change your Facebook settings to "Friends Only" Make sure your "default privacy" setting isn't set to public.