2016 was a record-breaking year for data breaches in the United States. An estimated 1,093 companies and government agencies were breached, exposing everything from passwords to Social Security numbers. As we enter 2017, data privacy begins to play a major role in building trust between businesses and consumers. Data security policies are crucial to companies who value the protection of their data and the privacy of their clients' information.

Ridesharing services have become a very popular alternative to traditional taxis, and make it easy to get home safely after a big night out.  But, how much do you know about what information the rideshare software is collecting?  Here are some quick tips for you to keep your information safe during the holiday season and all year round:

Did you receive a gift card during the holiday season?  If so, it’s important that you understand your rights.  While most gift cards cannot be redeemed for cash, federal law does provide you with some consumer protections.  Many states offer you additional rights. 

Federal law provides the following consumer protections:

The holiday season is a joyful time of year, but unfortunately it is also the time where scam artists take advantage of our “good cheer”. Here are a few scams to look out for this holiday season:

The holiday season is a time of joy for families everywhere.  Or, at least it is supposed to be.  While people are scurrying around looking for gifts to fill the empty space under their Christmas trees, hackers and scammers are lying in wait planning how to make it a very Merry Christmas…for them. 

The Scam

Evidently, the 2016 holiday season has brought about some troubling revelations for Yahoo and its users. 

Identity Theft. It plagues millions of Americans every year.  If you haven’t experienced it yourself, chances are that you know someone who has.  Of the more than 3 million complaints collected by the FTC in 2015, over 490,000 of the complaints were about identity theft.  But that only accounts for cases reported to law enforcement.

For this entry, we will be taking a look at AB 1580, the California bill that gives children (and other protected individuals) the ability to use a credit freeze to as a tool to help protect against identity theft. 

Secret questions, Security questions, Multi-Factor Authentication… we all know the drill. When you first create an account on a secure site, you’ll probably be asked to choose 2-3 questions to answer in case you forget your password or your account gets hacked. Some really secure sites will require you to answer one of them each time you sign in, even with your password. So you click on the drop-down menu and scan the meager selection of questions to choose from. Here are the ones you might want to steer clear of and why:

This week the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took an important step to protect the privacy of consumers online.  Individuals have little choice over how they access the internet, and broadband internet service providers (ISPs) have access to an enormous amount of information about their customers.  The FCC adopted broadband privacy rules that recognize this and will allow broadband customers to exercise more control over how their ISPs use and share their data.