The paranoid's survival guide, part 1: How to protect your personal data

Privacy is under attack from all quarters, but even today, there are things you can do to protect your personal data. Here are some tips.

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Ready to minimize your data footprint? Here's where to start.

The basics: Six standard operating procedures for online behavior

Draw the line: Decide what's personal

The traditional definition of personally identifying information (PII) -- health records, credit card numbers, social security number, etc. -- is so 20th century. The big data age of the Internet is upon us, and even data not previously considered to be PII can feel very personal when viewed in a broader context. "Bits of data, when combined, tell a lot about you," says Alex Fowler, chief privacy officer at Mozilla. Those aggregated bits, which constitute the new PII, may include such information as your email address, browsing history and search history.

"The definition of PII -- information that a person has a legitimate interest in understanding and protecting -- is going to be broadened as we move further into the information society," says Fowler. "It's a different footprint than what your parents ever thought about."

"Think about what you consider personal information," Fowler adds. "You need a working definition."

Don't share your personal information -- even when asked

Are you responding to surveys by phone or online? Filling out warranty cards? (You need only your receipt to make a warranty claim.) Providing optional preference and demographic information when signing up for an online service? "Most of us give out information trivially," says Abine's Shavell, not understanding that all of that information ends up in profiles that may be used by the collector and later shared with data aggregators and others.

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