Caveat Emptor
An important aspect of protecting your identity online involves being aware of where you are and what you're doing online. It sounds silly, but it can be easy to follow a few links, and then find yourself with a form to fill out and not even know what it's for.
Especially pay attention to where you are if you're deciding to make a purchase online. Most importantly, before you send your credit card number anywhere, make sure the site is using a secure server to encrypt the transaction, and that you are using a secure browser. On a Windows PC, a secure server will be shown by a small lock icon in the bottom of your browser window. The URL of a secure page should begin with "https" instead of "http." If a site doesn't support secure transactions, they're not ready for your online business.
Another thing you can do to help assess a Web site's credibility is to examine their privacy policies. There has been a real push recently to incorporate privacy policies into most sites that collect information or transact business, and it's worth looking for one if you're considering giving up some personal information.
Also examine the site for a TRUSTe or BBBOnLine seal. These organisations certify sites that maintain certain minimum privacy and honesty standards. Check if a site is truthfully displaying a seal by visiting the certification organisations directly.
For the most extreme levels of privacy you're going to have to work a bit. If you want to be absolutely sure your mouse-clicks aren't being monitored, you can surf cloaked by an anonymiser service. Check out sites like Anonymizer.com and IDzap for more details.
To keep your e-mail and files as secure as they can be, encryption is the way to go. Not quite user-friendly enough to be seamless yet, but worth the effort if you need the highest level of security. Programs like Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and Invincible Mail are leading the way.
Encrypting your files will render them meaningless to most observers by applying a specific algorithm to your data. To decode the encrypted files the correct decryption key is required. The key is an algorithm that "undoes" the work of the encryption algorithm, making the files readable again.
Hi,
Great site, very inforrmative. But . . . .
If this is an Australian site, why are all your examples American.
What Australian agencies and credit bureaus should be contacted when id stolen?
Regards,
Ross