Data privacy is not the same thing as data security, although the two are intimately connected and intertwined. Personal information has value and we need to protect it as if our lives depended on it because sometimes they do. Here during the week of Data Privacy Day, Cortech Developments offers 5 ways in which you can help to protect your data privacy.

1. Tend to your operating systems and software

Make sure your computer and mobile devices are running the latest version of operating systems and software.

2. Update your privacy preferences

Regularly review and update your web browser’s privacy preferences, delete any cookies, and clear the cache.

3. Reset your home network router

Routers that enable wireless devices to connect to your home internet service are vulnerable to hacking, too — if you rent a router from your internet provider, call them to see if you are eligible for a new one or for help to update your current router’s settings.

4. Update account passwords

Create different passwords for each of your online accounts — if you have a lot of accounts and find it challenging to keep track of all those different passwords, consider subscribing to a password generator tool that generates random passwords for each one of your accounts but requires you to only remember ONE.

5. Shred the evidence

Shred hard (paper) copies of invoices, financial records, tax documents, legal papers, magazine labels, envelopes, purchase receipts — any paper that has any information about you, because not all data thieves work on the internet.

The security of Cortech customer data is of paramount importance to the company, which is why it is committed to demonstrating data security and it aims to continually strive towards improving the protection of its systems and its clients’ data with accreditations such as Cyber Essentials and ISO 27001.

"We understand more than ever that your business data must be kept secure, our ISO 27001 certification demonstrates that we have identified the risks, assessed the implications and put in place tried and tested controls to help to minimise any risk to our business and your data. We strive to protect you as an organisation along with your data and we work to ensure our processes comply to the highest security standards so that your information is safe," says Nicole Davies from Cortech Developments.