January, 28 is Data Protection Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of protecting private information in a world where our data is shared daily for anything from business transactions to personal online shopping and social networking.
So the question is, are you aware of how to protect your information, and the information your clients entrust you with?
Would your information be safe if your laptop, phone or tablet were stolen?
Lesley is a mobile therapist, travelling to clients to bring the luxury of treatments to them in their own homes or offices. Her iPad is everything for her business, she uses it to record treament cards, take personal details from clients, process card payments and keep track of her bookings. One day she is leaving a networking breakfast when she realises her iPad has been taken. Not to worry, she thinks, it is insured and everything is backed up to iCloud. But there is something nagging at her and she just cannot shake the feeling of trepidation, knowing that someone out there has all her private information, and the information of each one of her clients on the stolen iPad.
Lesley is right to be concerned. Even with a password protected device, your device can be broken into and all your records can be retrieved. Thankfully there are ways that you can remotely wipe all information off your device so that it cannot be recovered. Take a look at your device's instructions on how to do this, and also find out if your device offers a 'find my device' service which can help you find your lost phone or tablet.
Backing up your data safely
Lesley was smart, she had routinely backed up all her data to iCloud. It goes without saying that all your business data, including client record cards, treatment records, accounts etc, should be backed up each night, to avoid disasterous loss of data. You could back up your information to an external source, such as an external hard drive and/or to an online storage service such as iCloud, Google Drive or any other you feel secure with. As with any storage of data, when you back up your data, you must always use a strong password.
A strong password is like a good toothbrush
Good password habits are like good toothbrush habits. You want a strong one, you wouldn’t ever share it, and you should change it frequently. And you wouldn’t use your toothbrush to clean your ears, for example, so don’t use the same password for many different websites. If you do and one of your accounts is compromised, the attackers would be able to use the same password to access any of your other accounts. For instance, don’t use your Facebook password for your online back-up service where you back-up all your client information daily.
Sending information safely and with discretion
Imagine, if you can, you are in the middle of a business meeting showing your colleagues or business associates a report on your laptop when an email alert pops up 'Reminder for your next brazilian wax'. I know, it seems ridiculous but it happens! When you are sending information by email, don't assume that others would protect their email accounts (or remember to turn off email alerts) as we would. When you are sending private information such as home addresses or treatment details, carefully consider whether it is 1) safe to send by email, and 2) whether your client would want you to send the information to her email account.
Lastly, it is healthy to develop a certain level of suspicion when you are working online. Carefully consider any requests for access to your information from apps on your phone to websites you visit. Check your security settings on your browser and your phone and use different email addresses for personal and business online activities.
Make sure you have an up to date data safety policy for your business.