Consumer Tip #1: Put Your Data on a Diet
One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions involves putting oneself on a diet – but perhaps consumers should really consider a “data diet.” Kroll strongly advises both its corporate clients and consumers to practice data minimization to dispose of old, outdated or unused data. The practice is important to data security because thieves can’t steal what you don’t have. It’s a great “exercise” for consumers, too, because everyone has a tendency to unnecessarily gather and carry plenty of paperwork, emails, and other items that hold sensitive personal information – items that serve no other purpose than as a liability for theft or loss.
Resolve to review your purse, wallet, glove compartment, and any other place that you might store personal identifying information (PII). Remove any PII that you do not need on a daily basis; for instance, Social Security cards should be kept in a secure place in your home or in a safe deposit box, to be removed only for a specific purpose. Check for expired insurance cards and driver’s licenses and shred them. Other items might include bank statements or credit card bills – these, too, should be shredded when they are no longer needed. Once you have initially removed as much accumulated data as possible, be sure to follow up with a steady “diet” of proper disposal and secure storage.
