For #CyberSecurityAwarenessMonth, I'd like to start with a basic assumption we often seem to overlook:
If you don't need the data, don't keep it. Or put another way: you can't lose what you don't have.
Cheap (virtually unlimited) storage encourages us all (people and organizations) to keep lots of sensitive data we don't need - and there are plenty of examples of that coming back to bite people in sensitive places.
Continuing this thread for #CyberSecurityAwarenessMonth, I'd like to highlight how choices in software can make big differences in the amount of data is slurped up by big companies about you. If we accept that privacy is a part of cyber security, then these are important tips:
Third party cookies are on by default in most browsers. Currently, these are one of the most insidious tracking tools that impact web browsing. Privacy focused browsers like #Firefox and #DuckDuckGo are rare exceptions that stop this.
Nearly every app you install from a "major company" tries to read data off of your phone, including a shocking amount of data that doesn't seem to have any actual relationship to providing you whatever service or solution the application is supposed to perform. I generally recommend uninstalling apps that you only use occasionally, or installing a tool like the #DuckDuckGo mobile app that helps block those queries and transmissions (especially for those of us on Android, which lags behind Apple iOS in privacy protections - which isn't to say iOS is perfect here.
You may also want to understand what your car is doing with your personal data. The #Mozilla foundation has been researching car privacy, and their findings are disturbing. https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/
Addressing these - if you don't want to have to be a privacy guru - will require political pressure, even laws. Sorry, even cyber security can't avoid politics.
Bill Bernard