Protect what's important to you.

Relationships

Relationships can be complicated in real life. And they can also be complicated online. You can fight with your sister over messenger, you can create a community on Tumblr, and you can find your best friend over common boards on Pinterest. Here are some tips for managing your relationships online:

• The Internet is a great tool to stay in touch with people over long distances, like cousins on another coast or friends studying abroad.
• Be nice to people, even if everyone else is being mean to them. Bullying is not cool in real life or online.
• Whether you meet a new person in real life or online, strive to be safe. Protect your identity, security, and privacy, and always tell someone you trust about a new person you meet online.
• Remember you always have the right to say “no,” to cut off contact, or to report anyone who is bothering you online.      

Privacy

Suppose you got a new car. Would you post a photo of you standing in front of your new car – with the license plate showing in the background? Or post a photo of your new driver’s license, student ID or your first credit card? Be mindful of the information that is shared on the photos, videos and status updates you post online. You could be helping someone hack your privacy and identity. Here are some tips to keep your info safe:

• Before you hit “post,” ask yourself if you’d share that information with a stranger—this rule of thumb will help you filter out private details like your last name, contact information, school, age or date of birth.
• Treat any pictures like an investigator or crime scene specialist, paying attention to the background, too: What personal details can you piece together about you and your friends in the image?
• Some sites require you to fill out an extensive profile. It may seem harmless, but all that personal data can fall into the wrong hands or even get sold to scammers.
• Be thoughtful when sites and apps you want to use ask for your full name, birth date, address, phone number or other private information. Think about whether you really want them to have that information and find out what they are going to do with it (and who else they are going to share it with) before you hand those details over.
• Many sites allow you to limit who can see your profile, either by changing settings or requiring a password to access your content—a vital step you should take with every account. Keep in mind, too, that social media groups you join (e.g. one for your high school) may be public.
• When in doubt, ask yourself if you’d feel comfortable posting your information in a public forum—because that’s essentially what the Internet is.

Money

Did you know that young people make up almost a third of US identity theft victims? It’s because they tend to have good credit, making them an attractive target, and they often fail to fully protect their personal details. Phishing scams—where a fraudster poses as a legitimate company to get your secret information—have become sophisticated: they may send emails asking for your username and password or direct you to a website to verify your password, all to take control of your financial identity. Here are some tips to help you protect your pocket book and credit score:

• Real companies (like banks, online retailers and credit card companies) won’t ask for those details over email, so don’t respond—even if the email’s images and language sound official or it includes threatening messages (like “Your account will be closed!”).
• Don't conduct financial activities on public computers. Criminals install keystroke recognition software on public computers to spy on what you type. Hackers can also log into your accounts after you’ve left the computer unless you take steps to block them. If you do go online on a public computer, like at school or the library, make sure to disable the automatic log-in feature (it’s usually a box beneath the field for your password) and log out before you leave the computer. It’s not enough to close the browser.
• Once criminals have your username—something that is often easy to find—they try to break into your account by trying the most common passwords. Create strong passwords—ones at least eight characters long that include letters, numbers and special symbols—that don’t include personal information. (Names, birthdays, addresses and simple sequences like 12345 are some of the most typical passwords and so will be the ones fraudsters try first.) Then change your passwords regularly and create different ones for each site so all your accounts aren’t compromised if they break through your defenses.
• Some web sites don’t use encryption software—a security measure that scrambles data as it crosses the Internet—making them vulnerable to hackers. Fraudsters may also set up a web page that looks identical to your banks or an online retailer so you’ll enter your log-in information. Make sure the web address begins with "https" (the "s" stands for “secure”) and has an icon of a closed padlock—these signs mean the site is safe. Also, be wary of links sent to you, even from a friend. Fraudsters may break into your friends’ email or social media accounts to get you to click on sites that will download malware—software that can record your sensitive information.