5 Tips to Stay Safe on Social Media in 2021
Photo courtesy of Monica Sauro.
As women, we think of safety when we are out in the world and at home. Do you know about phishing email scams, or are you mindful of security when you are on social media?
Your online presence is yet another part of your life you need to think of security. Rather than scare you, I hope to give you some practical and timely resources to incorporate into your online safety mindset.
1) Guard your health information
It’s great that you want to share your vaccination update, especially when there is some vaccine hesitancy. It may be encouraging someone you know to get vaccinated, but avoid sharing your vaccination card on the web. Scammers can glean information off of vaccine card selfies, according to the Better Business Bureau. Sharing your joy is encouraged, but If you have posted photos with your vaccination card, I highly recommend removing the picture from social media and do not share it via WhatsApp or text. Post a different image of your vaccination experience that does not contain your vaccination card, especially if your social media account is public.
2) Be location savvy
As we start to go into the world still masked whenever possible and responsibly, we may begin to meet up with friends at popular places where a photo is likely to be taken, uploaded to “the gram,” and tagged. Or you got the trendy cafecito at your local spot, and you want to support that small business with a post — great — but post it once you have left the location or are leaving.
This type of location tagging awareness not only minimizes the chance of you “running into” someone but also reduces the ability for a potential stalker/scammer/predator to know where you are at that exact moment. You are also not announcing to a would-be burglar that you are not home.
3) Safeguard your car and your home
You have just purchased a new car, and you want to share it with the world because you have worked hard for it. Perhaps take a photo at the dealership of a car similar but not the same color or model? Other than the family, friends, and people directly in your life, no one should know or care about the precise car drive or your license plate number.
4) Home safety
Like a car, don’t publicly share the front of your house or apartment building (especially the address). Also, be mindful of sharing every inch of your home inside via photos or video. Think of it as not providing a blueprint to your home.
5) The keys to your privacy
Technology can be a beautiful thing, but it also takes work to keep up with new developments to avoid becoming prey. One of those lesser-known developments is apps related to keys reproduction. People can now get a key made from a key photo on social media; they no longer need the physical key in hand.
For more safety tips, I recommend following Latina Cathy Pedreyas on Instagram. I recently discovered her account. Not only is it informative it is also entertaining. Stay safe, amigas!
This article was originally written for BeLatina.
