As a continuation of the Cybersecurity information we provided a few months ago during our July webinar, we want to suggest a process that may be helpful for protecting your personal information.
When you shop online, you will be creating cookies or leaving a digital footprint that allows companies to collect information about you. When you go to various websites and sign in using your Google account, you provide personal information about yourself. Often individuals want to leave reviews for various companies, but do not want their name displayed. Maybe you play online games and prefer not to reveal your full name, which is displayed if you are accessing your Google account. Whenever you see the option of signing in via Google, Facebook or your email account, if you choose Google, you are displaying the name attached to your Google account.
Most individuals, when they set up their Google account, entered their full name. You may even have entered your birthday, gender, and other personal information. Do you regret having done that now? If you do regret that, there is a way to adjust that information for the future.
To change the publicly available information, you need to go into your Google account through Google Chrome. You can also get into your Google account through your Gmail account. Open your Gmail email and click on your profile picture. This is the picture you inserted, or it might be the first letter of your first name if you did not upload a picture – it will be a circle in the upper right corner of the page. Next, choose the option to “Manage your account.” Click on the personal info option, and then you can click on the box where your name is. Edit it to say whatever you would like.
Maybe you want it only to say your first name and leave the last name blank. Maybe you want it to be a favorite movie actress or a fictitious character that you like. You can choose it to be whatever you want. If you insert a nickname, it will take whatever you put in the first name box, follow it with your nickname, and put your last name. Adding a nickname does not change the fact that your real name or the name you entered in the first and last box is still displayed. Adding a nickname inserts that the nickname as if it were your middle name in the display.
The next three boxes can be changed from public to private. By clicking the lock, you now make that information private and it is not available for anyone else to see.
The information that you put in the name box can be changed multiple times a day. You may want not to have your name public while you are adding a review. You can go into your Google account, hide your name, post the review, and change back to your original name. You have the option of doing this while you are online shopping. Be aware, there is a limit to the number of times you can do this within a day.
If you would prefer to leave your Google name as is and want to be hidden, your other option is to go incognito. This means that while you are in this mode, nothing you do online during this time is attached to your name.
To go incognito, open Chrome and click on the three vertical dots in the upper right corner. This will open a drop-down menu. In that drop-down menu, select “New incognito window.” This will open a new window saying you have gone incognito. Anything you do online while within this tab or that opens from this tab will not be attached to your Google account. You can shop, post reviews, or roam the Internet without fear of anyone knowing that it is you.
These options allow you to surf the Internet without people being able to follow your trail and attach it to you. For those of you with children, you need to consider if they are aware of this option. It also becomes difficult for you to follow where they are visiting on the Internet. To combat this, you may need to make sure their Internet use is where you can visibly see where they are.
Changing your Google name and going incognito increase your online security presence. Not storing credit cards and/or using virtual credit card numbers can protect your identity. Be careful about what you access on public Wi-Fi or using VPNs when using public Wi-Fi can protect your passwords and personal information.
People spend hours, days, weeks, and even months or years straightening out credit fraud, identity theft, and other fraud issues. Do all you can to protect yourself and avoid having to go through these problems. If you would like to review the information provided during our Cybersecurity webinar, you are welcome to contact the office and request a link to view that webinar.