There are a number of practical ways to protect your personal information online.

• Be careful: think twice about with whom, and where, you share your personal information such as your name, age, address, e-mail, telephone number, or social insurance number.
  
  
• If you buy something from a Web site, give the site only the minimum information necessary for the transaction.
  
  
• Question why a business wants your personal information. Make it clear that you don’t want it shared with, or sold to, any third party.
  
  
• If a site asks for your personal information, and asks you to click on an “I Agree” button, don't automatically agree. Take the time to read user agreements carefully because once marketers have your data, you lose control over how it’s collected, stored and used.
  
  
• If you are making purchases online, make sure that the Web pages where you provide personal and financial information are secure. (Look for the “https” notation in the URL, and the “locked” padlock icon in the corner of your screen.)
  
  
• Find and read the privacy policies and terms of use of the Web sites you use. These explain what personal information sites collect and how they use it, as well as who owns any content that users post. (Hint: it’s not always the user!)
  
  
• Never do business with any online business that doesn't post a clear privacy policy on its site.
  
  
• Make sure that your computer’s file-sharing and printer-sharing options are turned off.
  
  
• Always use virus-scanning software, and make sure it's always up to date.
  
  
• After browsing online, clear your memory cache.
  
  
• Get a separate account for personal e-mail; encrypt your e-mail messages; and use an anonymous re-mailer.
  
  
• Adjust your computer settings to reject unnecessary or unwanted cookies.