As the internet has increasingly become a part of life today, one must take extra measures to remain cautious when using the internet. There are hundreds of consequences and risks of internet use including cyber bullying, interactions with predators and scams. Therefore, it is imperative that everyone takes caution when using the internet. Here are the top five cyber safety tips for children, teens and adults to follow when online. 

1. Limit publishing private information

One would not hand purely personal information out to strangers individually—do not hand it out to millions of people online.

2. Turn off location services

This is a step that is forgotten by many. Many applications ask for access to one’s location without any real reason to need it. Therefore, it is recommended to turn off location services on applications that do not actually need to know your location. For example, Google Maps needs one’s location, but TikTok does not! 

3. Choose strong passwords

Many people simply use multiple variations of the same password; however, this can be highly detrimental to our safety as hackers can easily steal hack into all of our accounts. A strong password containing capital letters, numbers and special characters will be safer than any other password. 

4. Think before you post

Potential employers always check their candidates’ social media and internet profiles, so one should think about whether their future interviewer will enjoy seeing their culturally and racially insensitive posts. There are countless scandals where people’s posts come back to haunt them and ruin their social status. 

5. Be cautious of people you meet online 

With hundreds of apps in which people can easily meet others in their area such as Tinder, Bumble and Craigslist, one should be wary of malevolent people. One can never be too safe from scary people online!

Cyber security is very important for children, teens, and adults. The future is in technology and therefore people must educate themselves about the dangers it may hold.