On completing this course, you will be able to:
Welcome to this module, which looks at how to protect yourself online and maintain your privacy.
Remember, your online data is valuable to cybercriminals. So what can you do to stay safe?
There are some simple strategies that you can use to protect your personal devices and maintain your data securely. Let’s take a look at what these are.
You have been asked to set up an online photo storage and sharing account to be used for creative collaboration with the design department and other teams at @Apollo.
When signing up, you are prompted to sign a service agreement with the provider. You don’t think too much about it and agree to all the terms without reading them.
You have just signed a Terms of Service agreement. But do you know what this is? Consider the following options and choose the one you think best describes a Terms of Service agreement.
Explanation:
The Terms of Service, also known as Terms of Use or Terms and Conditions, is a legally binding contract that governs the rules of the relationship between you, the service provider and others who use the service.
The Terms of Service will include a number of sections, from user rights and responsibilities to disclaimers and account modification terms.
data use policy
The data use policy outlines how the service provider will collect, use and share your data.
privacy settings
The privacy settings allow you to control who sees information about you and who can access your profile or account data.
security policy
The security policy outlines what the company is doing to secure the data it obtains from you.
accept terms
You have successfully created the @Apollo account and agreed to the Terms of Service of the online photo sharing company. But do you really know what you have signed up for?
The data use policy of the company you used to set up the account states that for any content you publish: “you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, and worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content (consistent with your privacy and application settings)”.
What does this statement really mean?
Explanation:
While you are the owner of the content, the company could re-use any content you have shared for any purposes.
As you didn’t set the privacy settings before you accepted the terms, default settings were applied.
Which of the following do you think is more likely?
Explanation:
Accepting the default privacy settings usually means that anyone can see information about you and access your profile.
Now that you’ve taken a closer look, are you still happy to agree to all these terms?
What factors should you consider before you sign up to an online service?
The factors:
You must always take appropriate action to protect your data and safeguard your account.
Thinking back to the Terms of Service examples outlined above, what can you do to protect yourself when you enter into an agreement with an online service provider? What can you do to safeguard your account and protect your data?
To protect your data and safeguard your account, you should: