Life Skills · 5 lessons

Staying safe online

Protect your accounts, your money and your attention online, so technology works for you rather than on you. 5 short lessons with worked examples.

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Protect your accounts, your money and your attention online, so technology works for you rather than on you.

The lessons

• Passwords and two-step sign-in — Use a different long password for every important account, keep them in a password manager, and turn on two-step sign-in.
• Recognising phishing and scams — Messages that create urgency and ask you to click, log in or pay are the most common trap online. Go to the service directly instead.
• Your privacy and digital footprint — What you share online can last and travel further than you expect. Think about who might see it, now and years from now.
• How feeds shape what you see — The feed you scroll is chosen for you by a system trying to keep you watching. It is not a neutral picture of the world or of other people's lives.
• Using technology without it using you — Technology is a powerful tool. Decide what you want it for, and set limits on the rest.

Practise

Check your own setup: how many important accounts share a password, whether your email has two-step sign-in, and which app leaves you feeling worst after using it.

• A considered answer tends to include: looks at real accounts and apps you use
• A considered answer tends to include: starts with the account that protects the others
• A considered answer tends to include: names one change you can make today

Try it this week

This week, turn on two-step sign-in for your email, or unfollow a few accounts that leave you feeling worse, and note what changed.

Reflect

Which piece of technology adds the most to your life, and which takes the most without giving much back?