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Don't let the excitement of the first day of school cloud your judgement of online safety.
Back-to-school season means fresh notebooks, new routines—and a flood of first-day photos on social media.
Those adorable snapshots with name signs and grade levels may seem harmless, but they can share more personal information than you realize.
As the school year kicks off, are you taking the right steps to protect your family’s privacy online?
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) says while these photos are a great way to capture yearly milestones, the information shared in these photos can pose a security risk.
Sharing your child’s name, grade, or birthday in a back-to-school photo might feel innocent—but it could expose more than you think. In fact, 59% of U.S. adults admit to using personal details like names or birthdays in their passwords, making these seemingly sweet posts a potential goldmine for scammers.
Before you hit "post," check out these quick tips to keep your family’s personal info safe, and still enjoy all the first-day fun.
BBB's back-to-school photos tips
☑️ Avoid sharing personal details about your child.
Back-to-school photos often involve kids holding a board with their name, age, school, teacher, and grade level. Scammers could use this information to attempt to commit identity theft. If you’re one to use your child’s personal information in passwords, this also leaves you vulnerable to a security breach. Not to mention, these details are also often used as security questions for banking or credit card accounts.
READ MORE | Data Privacy
☑️ Choose generic backgrounds for your photos.
Be mindful of any house numbers, street signs, or other identifiable locations in the background of your photos. Make sure no school signs, bus stops, or other landmarks are visible that could reveal your child's location.
☑️ Double-check your privacy settings.
Review your social media account’s privacy settings regularly. Be mindful of who can view your posts. You may want to remove personal information from your account that others can see, such as your telephone number or address.
☑️ Watch out for phony friend requests.
Don’t accept friend requests from strangers. Also, think twice before you accept a friend request from someone you are already connected with. It could be an impostor trying to access your information and friends list.
☑️ Practice good cybersecurity habits.
If you’re using personally identifiable information in your passwords, or if you’re using the same password for multiple accounts, it’s time to do some password management.
READ MORE | How to create a strong password
Heartland Bank is a family-owned bank located in 15 communities across the heart of Nebraska. Its vision is to improve the lives of customers, associates, and communities. Heartland Bank is a six-time recipient of American Bankers' Best Banks to Work For award.
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