Internet Security

What is Internet privacy?

When you provide personal information in a website, software installation pages or email sent to a company, you are allowing these people to use your contact information to exchange information with you.

Protecting your personal information requires that you exercise prudence and apply certain habits that will help you maintain your privacy and avoid the risks of identity theft.

Privacy protection Tips

• Use hard-to-guess passwords.
• Never share your passwords; never write them down or carry them with you.
• Don't send confidential information by e-mail; it is not a secure form of communication.
• Never reply to spam or email asking you to provide financial information, such as bank account numbers. Trustworthy businesses never ask you to provide confidential information by e-mail.
• Do your online shopping through trustworthy websites and make sure that the transaction is done with 128-bit encryption. Look for a little padlock at the bottom of your browser window and an address beginning with "https://" in your browser's address bar indicate that the page has been encrypted and that the data will be transmitted securely.
• Read the company's security and privacy policy; it may explain how the information will be used.
• Keep your computer's operating system up-to-date to prevent it from being infected by viruses or hijacked by hackers.
• When you get rid of your old computer, make sure you delete all the data in it. There is software available that overwrites your hard disk and completely erases all data.
• Install firewall, antispam, anti-spyware and antivirus software such as that included with NorthernTel's Internet Security Services.

If you would like more details and tips regarding identity theft risks, consult the Consumer Measures Committee (Opens in New Window) website created by the Canadian Government under Chapter Eight of the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT).