With early Black Friday sales already underway at many retail stores, smart home devices (i.e. Amazon Echo, Google Home, Ring Video Doorbell, etc.) are likely to be popular items throughout the holiday season. If you are considering buying one of these Internet of Things (IoT) devices, it’s important to choose one that does not compromise privacy and security.

Unfortunately, Ohio SB 220 went into effect on Friday. Earlier this year, we submitted a letter to the Ohio legislature urging them to protect their residents and avoid creating the loophole SB 220 provides.

This law effectively gives companies a way out of compensating victims of data breaches—provided they implement some specific security steps. This will undoubtedly stifle legitimate public complaints that would otherwise result in reimbursements to the victims.

If you use any other Google services (Gmail, YouTube or Google Maps) while on Chrome, a recent update to the web browser can pose a privacy risk to you. Google will now automatically sign you into Chrome using your credentials from these other Google services. This also means that your data will automatically be sent to Google’s servers.

However, this recent update to Chrome allows you to opt out of this automatic sign-in and protect your privacy, if you so choose.

To opt out:

We often think of identity theft as an adult problem, but children are frequently targets for as it’s unlikely to be noticed for years (when the now-grown-up child applies for credit themselves). For less than the price of a morning coffee, a person could buy your child’s Social Security number and use it to build a fake credit file—allowing them to take out loans and credit cards in your child’s name.

Starting today, you can freeze your credit files at no cost. A security freeze prevents new creditors (i.e. credit card companies or lenders) from seeing your credit reports—stopping fraudulent new accounts from being opened in your name.

For full effectiveness, you must request a freeze from each of the three major credit reporting agencies (their websites will provide instructions):

Noted Twitch streamer Guy Beahm, who streams under the name “Dr.

Returning to school or heading off to college for the first time can be very exciting—new places, new friends and new experiences. Unfortunately, along with these great new opportunities comes the increased risk to your personal privacy. Being a college student today opens the door to a variety of unique security risks.

Did you know that your child’s school can share personal information about your child to third parties without your consent? The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) allows public schools to release what’s known as directory information to almost anyone. What directory information is can vary from school to school, but it may include your child’s

This week, the Associated Press (AP) reported a stunning revelation regarding Google’s location-tracking practices. According to their report, Google has been storing users’ location data even when they turn Location History off in their privacy settings.

During Prime Day this year, you may have purchased your first Echo or added another one of the Echo-line of products (Dot, Show or Spot) to your home. While the Echo can do a lot for you, you may want to consider checking these features and settings before ending up like the Portland couple who’s Echo shared their private conversations without their knowledge.