In the end, it is only you who decides what level of risk you're willing to take, but the point of LifeSec is to live in a way where your risk is lower by default – not just against risks today, but whatever comes around the bend. Without it, you may not be prepared for how an adversary may come at you like in the unfortunate case of Ena Matsuoka:

Trigger Warning: Stalking, Assault

Pop-idol Ena Matsuoka had many fans, but Hibiki Sato was obsessed with finding her. So he studied everything she posted online. Checking details like which way the sun fell through her apartment window. What kind of window-dressings did she use? What features were visible outside?

He finally got his chance when he noticed, in a high-resolution selfie she took on her commute home, a sign for a train station in the reflection of her eye. It was enough for him to stake-out the station, wait until she showed, then follow her home. She survived, but some aren't so lucky.

Idol hunted from an eyeball reflection

Whether you are minding your business, trying to build a business, being an ally, or end up in an argument with a neighbor/online troll, having too much available information puts you at risk. Depending what you say, who you say it to, in what venue, under what circumstance, you could be volunteering to be an aggressor's new pet project.

Sometimes the only thing you need to be safe is to be a hard target.

The bottom line is to be hard to attack. Post generically. Fudge unimportant details. Use fake information (where legal and appropriate). Guard your photos. Deny websites/stores/etc. information they don't strictly need. And carry these principles of data protection with you in real life too.

A lot of ID theft prevention is making sure people don't have your information who don't need it (see my Data Defense articles for more).

When making conversation, when at the store, filling out a form at the dentist – like a martial art, use the minimum motion and force to get the job done. Use the least information possible at all times and in all ways.

Then, even if someone becomes interested in you for the wrong reasons, if the amount of effort it takes them to harm you exceeds their level of interest/time, you win.

Loose information makes you a target and it makes you an easy target. It's up to you what to share, but do so aware of the consequences and risks. Most importantly, adopt LifeSec principles all the time and it becomes easy to:

1. Remember that what goes online, goes everywhere; forever. Don't post anything that you're not willing to have dragged back up and used against you later.
2. Learn to be evasive and general. Not only does this make you a better conversationalist, it's safer too!
3. Evade accidents with separation. Separate emails, browsers, accounts – whatever you can work into your life makes keeping separate information separate.
4. Resist elicitation. Just because someone asks doesn't mean they have any right to know the data. Give as little information as practical at all times.
5. Think about how your data can be combined. Don't fall into the trap of thinking "this will be ok because it's just a little bit of information". People and AI can line all the different data up into one clear picture.
6. Especially beware of photo risks. A photo is worth 1000 words and some of those words might say things you don't want people to know!

If I wasn't clear, this isn't 'do this sometimes', but a way of life. Adopt LifeSec as a way of life and you'll be safer not just online or offline, but all the time. For you, for your loved ones. You become, by nature, a hard target.