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Being a Data Scrooge

When you're working with someone in a store or on the phone, what do you say when they ask for your name, address, phone number, zip code, number of children, annual income, etc? Hopefully your response is, "Why do you need that information?" followed by "I'd rather not provide that, thank you" (or disposable secondary e-mail address, not your main e-mail address depending on the situation.

Use your work phone

If you are not prohibited from doing so, you may want to take calls relating to an order or other professional service at the place where you'll be all day anyway.

Use Google Voice (or similar)

As of the writing of this article, Google has a function that lets you create a phone number with them (for free) and give it out to people. Besides allow you to then change your cellphone number in the future without worry (some people keep the same bad plan forever just to keep the number), you have several controls on incoming calls and being able to sort or block them.

Everything Else

Phone Survey! Just because someone's polite and asks nicely, doesn't mean you should give out your data

Things like information about your family (wife, kids, etc), annual income, work place, personal history, and such are things I would hope I wouldn't have to tell you to protect. But then again, when was the last time you saw one of those web forms that asks questions like "your pet's name", "the name of your high school", "your father's middle name" in case they need to reset your password? (remember never to give real information to challenge questions).

And when someone you're talking to in person or on the phone asks you a question that you don't really want to answer, the best tip I've heard was to ask them in return, "Why do you want to know?" while smiling innocently. This forces them to come up with some kind of response to justify their nosiness.


When it comes to your personal information, remember that it's an odds game. If you have no point, purpose, or benefit to giving away information, the only logical outcome is bad. Why give it up if you can only lose?

Protect your trash

Product Boxes

Don't make it easy for people to rob you. Haven't you ever seen a box like this on the curb and thought, "Huh. The Smiths got a new plasma." Thieves see just as well as you do. Come Christmas time, it's pretty easy for them to drive through the neighborhoods and pick targets based on their trash.

The Best Christmas EVER!
VS.
Window Shopping for Thieves

Remember to always dispose of trash in a way that doesn't call attention to you. Put it in front of a neighbor's house instead; someone you hate preferably (ok, I'm only kidding on that one).

Bills and letters

You should never just throw away documents with your valuable data on it. Do you really think people won't go through icky trash to make a mint off your personal data? Shredding is good, but the larger the paper that comes out, the more likely it is that someone will be able to easily piece it back together.

Right now, the only shredders that come close to obliterating your documents is a "Microcut" shredder. They tend to me more expensive, but worth it for the security.

Check out my Shredders and Shredding guide for more information.

It's impossible to fully prevent credit card fraud, but there are several things you can do to help.
Social security numbers have become the gateway to all kinds of identity abuses so the less people you give it to, the better.
Your data is as valuable as money so protect it like money!
What do you do once your data is already out there? This.

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Check out one of my guides/tutorials:

computer security Tutorial
|INDEX|next: Spyware Scanners

Security Software

Make sure you have a up-to-date Anti-Virus Program to protect you against bad websites or files.
Sometimes spyware gets in your computer and the anti-virus won't stop it. Use a spyware scanner to find and remove spyware and adware.
Use a software firewall to detect bad code on your computer when it tries to connect to the Internet.
Always keep your system up to date with security patches or none of the rest of your security software will matter.
Use an encryption tool to protect your important data when storing or transmitting it.
Switch to Firefox for your web browsing and you'll be better protected from Internet threats.

Safe Computing Practices

Don't get tricked by fake alerts or clever webpages into downloading viruses or spyware!

... or check out any of my other guides and tutorials by clicking here!

Protecting Credit Cards

Credit card fraud isn't ID Theft, but is closely relatedare often used fraudulently so do what you can to prevent it.

[Click for full description]

Protecting Social Security Numbers

Social security numbers have become the gateway to all kinds of identity abuses so the less people you give it to, the better.

[Click for full description]

Being a Data Scrooge

Learn to protect your personal information the way Scrooge did his money.

[Click for full description]

Reputation Management

Just because there are things out there about you that are out of your control and are unflattering or worse, doesn't mean you're powerless.

[Click for full description]

Anti-Virus

A virus can come from files, e-mails, web pages, or even devices you plug in (like thumbdrives or printers) and destroy your files or your computer once they get in. An anti-virus is software designed to detect and prevent that from happening.

[Click for full description]

Spyware Scanners

Learn how to detect and remove spyware and adware using a free scanning tool.

[Click for full description]

Software Firewall

Learn what a firewall is and why you want one on your computer.

[Click for full description]

Operating System Updates

Make sure to keep your operating system up-to-date with security patches or else none of the rest of your security software will be able to protect you.

[Click for full description]

File Encryption

Learn how to protect your important files on your computer or when transmitting them with free tools for file encryption.

[Click for full description]

Mozilla Firefox - Internet Browser

There are many browser choices out there. Read why I think Firefox is one of the best.

[Click for full description]

Fake Alerts

Maybe you've done everything right and you're computer is sufficiently fortress-like, but then you or someone in your family falls for a simple scam that tricks them into directly installing the bad guy's virus! Learn how to spot and ignore fakes!

[Click for full description]