| Checklist
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Suggestions
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| Is
your password secure? |
=>Choose a password that is hard to guess. Your
password for access to the Internet and the e-mail system
are the first line of defence for your privacy. Use
a password that is nonsensical. Mixing numbers and special
characters with letters is a good practice.
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Choose
a password that is hard to guess.
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=>Change your password frequently. Ask your
ISP to change the password set up when the account is
first opened and change it from time to time.
=>Set your e-mail program not to remember your password.
Forgery of e-mails is very easy if someone gets hold
of your password. You can help avoid this risk by setting
the e-mail program not to fill in your password automatically.
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| Have
you set your browser to ask you before accepting a "cookie"? |
=>Set
an option in your browser to ask your permission to accept
a cookie, each time one is presented. Cookies are
small files that can be stored in your computer when you
visit a web page. They can save you having to register
again when re-visiting the same site, but they can also
be used to track your interests. If you have filled in
an Internet form, your interests can be attached to your
name. Then, a profile of your interests can be built which,
after a while, may surprise you in its detail.
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Use
"anonymous cookies" software.
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Consider
setting your browser to ask you before accepting a "cookie".
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You can search
the Internet on the word "cookies" to find software that
can keep your computer clear of cookies or make your cookies
files ineffective for access. This would help to reduce
your loss of privacy.
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| Have
you set your browser to tell you when a secure connection
is active? |
=>Set an option in your browser to display a message
each time you enter and leave a secure zone. Special
software programs called "sniffers" can monitor passing
messages on the Internet. They can be made to recognise
specific patterns of numbers, such as credit card numbers,
which can then be noted and later misused. An alert
message from the browser can help you to decide whether
it is secure for you to send sensitive data over the
Internet.
=>Check the browser window for the secure connection
symbol. Most responsible sites requesting confidential
information arrange for security encryption of such
information automatically. If https:// instead of http://
is shown at the beginning of the Address line at the
top of your browser window, or if you see an unbroken
key or closed padlock symbol at the bottom of the browser
screen, then messages sent to the site will be encoded.
Encoded messages are much harder to spot. You should
only send your credit card number and other sensitive
data if they will be transmitted in encoded format.
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Notice/
Copyright 2001 Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal
Data, Hong Kong. All rights reserved. Disclaimer
