HOW TOH PROTECT YOUR DIGITAL PRIVACY

Data breaches. Online scams. Al chatbots. It's enough to make you want to log off for good...but you don't have to! This guide will answer some of the most common cybersecurity questions and arm you with simple steps to safeguard your most sensitive data.

- LAUREN KROUSE

Every year we become increasingly connected online and more reliant on technology. And why wouldn't we? Social media helps us keep in touch; Alexa and Google answer all our questions; digital maps point us in the right direction; and apps make it easy to do...just about everything. But all that connection can come at a cost to our privacy and security. And unfortunately, you're a target: In 2021 alone, middle-aged and older adults accounted for 60% of victims of Internet crime and lost over $4 billion to hackers and scammers, per a report from the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. Hackers are always finding innovative ways to sneak into our lives and steal valuable data, from posing as tech support people to inundating us with dangerous links.

Luckily, you don't have to be a tech pro (or anything close) to protect yourself and your loved ones from digital disasters. Start with this guide to learn which threats should be top of mind for you and how you can build a stronger cybersecurity shield in seconds.

DIGITAL PRIVACY 101

IS MY PHONE LISTENING TO ME?

If you've ever talked about something only to see an ad for it pop up on your screen a moment later, you've probably at least wondered whether companies could be spying on you. In fact, more than 40% of Americans who have a smartphone believe their device is recording them without their permission. But is this actually possible?

David Choffnes, Ph.D., a computer science professor and executive director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute of Northeastern University, says he gets this question a lot. From 2017 to 2018, he and his team analyzed more than 17,000 Android apps and did not find a single example of an app covertly activating a phone's microphone to collect audio recordings.