National Cybersecurity Alliance Data Privacy Week Calls for Data Diligence

January 27, 2025
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Data Privacy Week is an annual expanded effort from Data Privacy Day -- taking place from January 27 - 31, 2025. The goal of Data Privacy Week is to spread awareness about online privacy among individuals and organizations. The goal is twofold: to help citizens understand that they have the power to manage their data and to help organizations understand why it is important that they respect their users' data.

All your online activity generates a trail of data. Websites, apps, and services collect data on your behaviors, interests, and purchases. Sometimes, this includes personal data, like your Social Security and driver’s license numbers. It can even include data about your physical self, like health data – think about how a smartwatch counts and records how many steps you take. 

While it’s true that you cannot control how each byte of data about you and your family is shared and processed—you are not helpless! In many cases, you can control how you share your data with a few simple steps. Remember, your data is precious, and you deserve to be selective about who you share it with!

During Data Privacy Week, enjoy one or more of these 30-minute “Talking Data” conversations happening live at the times indicated and available online afterward.

In addition, follow these steps to better manage your personal information and make informed decisions about who receives your data:

  • Know the tradeoff between privacy and convenience
     
    • Is the service, app, or game worth the amount or type of personal data they want in return?
    • Can you control your data privacy and still use the service?
    • Is the data requested relevant to the app or service?
    • If you haven’t used an app, service, or account in several months, is it worth keeping around knowing that it might be collecting and sharing your data?
       
  • Adjust privacy settings to your comfort level
     
    • For every app, account, or device, check the privacy and security settings. These should be easy to find in a Settings section and should take a few moments to change. Set them to your comfort level for personal information sharing; generally, we think it’s wise to lean on the side of sharing less data, not more.
       
  • Protect your data
     
    • Create long unique passwords for each account and device.
    • Use a password manager to store each password.
    • Turn on multifactor authentication (MFA) wherever it is permitted
    • Turn on automatic device, software, and browser updates, or make sure you install updates as soon as they are available.
    • Learn how to identify phishing messages, which can be sent as emails, texts, or direct messages.

For more information about Data Privacy Week and how to get involved, visit https://www.staysafeonline.org/data-privacy-week.