Protecting Your Personal Information Online - July 2004
By Kelly Embleton

Every time you are online you could be sharing personal information about yourself with others and not even know it. Protecting your information while online is very important. Thousands of people online have been victims of online fraud, their credit card, social insurance and personal information has been lifted from the Web (by various methods), and used by online fraud thieves.

Whether you're browsing the Internet, making an online purchase or banking online, your information could be at risk.

Here are a few tips and techniques to make sure your personal information is safe while online.

Browsing the Internet
When you browse the Internet and visit Web sites, most sites use cookies to record which pages you viewed on their site. Cookies record information about shopping cart contents, login information, address information, e-mail addresses and such so you don't have to re-enter it each time you visit the site. Advertisers, causing those annoying pop-up ad windows in your browser, also use cookies.
Protect your information by reading the site's privacy policies on cookie information. You may also want to disable cookies in your browser to avoid these privacy issues.

Shopping Online
Before buying products online from an online merchant, you must be on the lookout for specific information from the online store to insure that your personal information (billing, shipping and payment information) is safe and to prevent fraud.
Only order online from reputable companies, find their privacy policy on the site and be sure to read it, read about their return polices and guarantees (this proves credibility), make sure the site is secure and encrypted and only provide information necessary to make the purchase. After you have made your online purchase, make sure you print out your confirmation number, if provided, or the order receipt, record the company's contact information and watch your credit card statements closely.

Online Banking
Banking and paying bills online is definitely a huge time saver and much more convenient than traditional ways. If you use online banking you need to be sure that your personal and financial information is completely safe.
Make sure your bank is a reputable one, confirm the bank's guarantee to cover any fraud-related losses caused by online banking and print and file any privacy policies from the bank's Web site regarding online banking. Double check that you are banking over a secure server, the Web address should start with https:// and there should be a locked padlock graphic on the bottom of your browser. When setting up your login information, create a unique password that only means something to you and keep it confidential. It is also a good idea to print out and file your online transactions and any confirmation numbers, this way you have a hard copy of your online banking transactions.

Sharing A Computer
If you are on a computer that is used by others, like family members, roommates or classmates, then pieces of your personal information are left behind on the system and are accessible to the other users.
To ensure your personal information remains private, delete your browser's history and cache, keep certain sensitive files and information private by emptying your recycle bin and save information to external disks rather than saving to the computer's hard drive. In addition, be sure to delete e-mail files and use unique passwords that only mean something to you, passwords that contain a combination of letters and numbers are ideal.

Starting with these protection tips will help in controlling how much personal information you share online from your Internet travels.

Resources

• Guitar Noise has been serving beginners and pros online since 1995 by offering free guitar lessons, exclusive interviews, tablature, advice on careers, songwriting and much more. Check out the Guitar Noise site at www.guitarnoise.com.

• The Film Music Network site at www.FilmMusicJobs.com is currently under construction but plans to have an online Web service with industry job listings for composers, songwriters, bands and more. The job listings are to be updated daily and open to members of the Film Music Network featuring a wide variety of industry opportunities. Make sure you bookmark this site and check back often for the upcoming information.

• Roland Canada recently announced the launch of an all-new Online Product Finder, located at www.roland.ca/products. This advanced Web site allows visitors to browse through Roland's vast catalogue of music technology products quickly and easily.

• Save Canadian Music at www.savecanadianmusic.com is a new site recently developed to educate people on the issue and implications surrounding the announced expiry of funding to the Music Industry. Visit the site to find out more information about this issue, who's affected, how you can help and more.

• The Beaches International Jazz Festival is being held on July 16-25, 2004 in Toronto. For information about the festival, schedules, sponsorship, program rates, artist submissions, visitor information, directions and more visit www.beachesjazz.com.

• If you are looking for sheet music, songbooks, artist biographies, anthologies or greatest hits collections then visit Music Books Plus at www.musicbooksplus.com. Music Books Plus has a vast selection of over 600 titles including: Best of Metallica, Ben Folds, Nickelback, Radiohead, Audioslave, Linkin Park, Paul McCartney and more.