You've heard it before and you'll likely hear it again, but it's always a good idea to review what personal info you're sharing online AND what info is online that you haven't shared.

In some cases you have to provide websites and services with approval to keep and use your personal info just in order to gain that service. These are personal choices we have to make. But you can limit your online footprint by using VPNs, declining cookies, using tools such as Norton for “dark web monitoring” or “privacy monitoring”. It's also not a bad idea to keep an eye on your credit report monthly to ensure there's nothing new on there that shouldn't be. 

Lastly -- and I have to remind my kids of this all the time – is to be wary of what you share on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. You're recent “check-in” at the fancy Caribbean beach resort is a note to me (and others) that your home is empty for the next few days. Or your Gym Selfie at your weekly Saturday morning spin class is a window of opportunity for someone to know exactly where you are or where you're going to be at 9am every Saturday, for better or worse. 

We're all guilty of modern conveniences, and exchanging a little bit of personal info to gain access to information, entertainment, or tools to make us more powerful and efficient isn't going to end any time soon. Just be cognizant of what's out there and try to remove anything that seems “over the line” for public consumption.