If you’re going to be taking your laptop to work, or out about town, then you should take a moment to consider the issue of privacy. Identity theft probably isn’t as much of an epidemic as a number of people have made it out to be, but it does happen, and it is happening more often every day. Some people have kind of put the idea out there that identity theft happens to almost everybody, and while that certainly isn’t the case, more people had their identities stolen last year than were struck by lightning. You wouldn’t go outside in a thunderstorm with a golf club and no shoes, though, so don’t take your laptop out in public without safeguarding your private data against identity thieves.
Passwords
If you can help it, just don’t keep things like bank account or credit card numbers on your laptop. If you take your laptop out in public a lot, don’t leave the password protection on your bank or creditor’s website on auto. Put the password in manually each time, and don’t leave those sites open and logged-into on your browser if you get up for a moment. An identity thief doesn’t need to steal your laptop. An identity thief is primarily stealing information. If you’re at, say, a crowded coffee shop, an identity thief only needs for you to get up to use the restroom for a moment to hop on, peek at your account info, and hurry back to his or her seat before you finish doing your business.
Visibility
In fact, if you’re going to be looking at any of your private data in a public place, find a corner where you can sit with your back to the wall, or use a laptop filter and make sure nobody’s sitting directly behind you (a laptop filter being a simple screen you can attach to make the screen non-visible to anyone not sitting directly in front of the computer).
And finally, don’t leave your Laptop Unattended!
Try not to leave your laptop unattended unless you’re with a friend who can keep an eye on it. If you expect total strangers to make sure nobody hops on and takes a peek, think again. Nobody, except the identity thieves, are watching closely enough to really notice whether or not the person using the laptop is actually the person who walked in the door with it. Even if it’s a bit of a hassle, take your laptop with you if you have to get up and use the restroom or something. If you can’t see where you’re leaving it, don’t leave it there.
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