Friday, January 4, 2013

With the New Year, make the commitment to protect your personal data — including data at your home, work and stored in your smartphone.

We’re participating in Data Privacy Month, an effort to “empower people to protect their privacy and control their digital footprint and escalate the protection of privacy and data as everyone’s priority.” The effort is led by the National Cyber Security Alliance.

January is Data Privacy Month, but that effort initially began in 2008 with Data Privacy Day — which is still observed on Jan. 28 every year.

Both events highlight the fact that with today’s vast amount of digital data, we all need to be aware of how to protect that personal and private information from others.

Free Webinars

Several free webinars will be available in January during Data Privacy Month. The topics are:

•  “Are You Smarter Than Your Phone?” on Wednesday, Jan. 9, from 1-2 p.m. Advance registration is required, but is free.
•  “Scalable Privacy: An NSTIC Pilot Program for the Identity Ecosystem” on Wednesday, Jan. 16, from 1-2 p.m.
•  “It’s Not Just Facebook! What Every College Student Should Know About Online Privacy” on Wednesday, Jan. 30, from 1-2 p.m.

EDUCAUSE, a non-profit organization committed to advancing IT in higher education, is offering the webinars for free to everyone. EDUCAUSE has additional details about each webinar and its speakers.

Resources for Everyone

Keeping the personal data of yourself and others safe is an effort that anyone can understand.

Whether it’s data stored in a smartphone, your medical records or your tax filings, you can learn how to protect that information.

Learn how to protect your privacy.

Resources at UGA

The University of Georgia’s Office for Information Security already has plenty of tools and tips to help protect sensitive data.

Some popular topics include:

• Protect Your Computer
• Protect Your Data
• Use Strong Passwords
• Using PAWS-Secure, the university’s secure wireless network
• Using SendFiles to safely send encrypted files
• Work from home by securely accessing UGA’s campus network and computer resources by using the remote access VPN
• Protect your UGA-owned computer from virus and web-based threats by using Trend Micro OfficeScan

Follow Us!

EITS will keep you updated during Data Privacy Month with additional tips on Twitter (@uga_eits). You can also like us on Facebook to stay informed.