In Rwanda, a growing number of transactions are taking place online and a huge amount of information is being exchanged digitally, making data protection and privacy an important topic.

If your personal data is compromised, it can be misused by third parties for fraud, such as phishing scams and identity theft. To prevent this, follow these 5 tips that will help you to protect your data privacy online.

1. Apply strong authentication over your accounts

The security of your online accounts that hold your personal data has to be as strong as possible, and account authentication represents the first line of protecting this important data. To ensure you are being as secure as possible with managing this access, use strong passwords, regularly changing your passwords and have apply multi-factor authentication to verify your identity.

2. Enable your browser privacy settings

Companies and websites track everything you do online, and the data they collect reveals more about you than you might expect. This data can be sold onto third parties that are interested in understanding how you shop or simply browse the web. Web browsers have privacy settings and features that can better protect your browsing data and privacy, enable them or invest in a VPN to keep your browsing data secure.

3. Ensure you have installed antivirus software on your device

Malicious software on your computer can scan for and steal your personal data. Ensure you have installed an anti-virus or endpoint protection software on your device and enable automatic update of your anti-virus software. The anti-virus will be used to scan downloads and therefore prevent accidently running malicious content on your device.

4. Be aware of the signs of a phishing attempt

Malicious actors can attempt to compromise your online privacy through phishing attempts. In phishing, scammers try to trick you into providing valuable financial or personal information by sending fake emails that appear to be from banks, credit card providers, or other financial institutions.

Learn to spot the signs of a phishing email by identifying what seems to be unusual or inconsistent. Phishing emails normally have;

• Attachments or links

• Spelling errors

• Poor grammar

• Unprofessional graphics

• Unnecessary urgency about verifying your email address or other personal information

• Generic greetings like "Dear Customer" instead of your name.

5. Before entering personal information into a website, ensure the site is secure

Before entering personal information into a website make sure you are on a website that will keep your data encrypted form malicious actors. Take a look at the top of your browser, if there is a lock symbol and the URL begins with “https,” that means the website has secure data encryption. You can also determine if a site is trustworthy by checking for a website privacy policy, contact information, or in the case of online shopping a “verified secure” seal.