In these menacing days of identity theft, scams, phishing and other data-related crime, it makes sense to ensure that your home office is a safe place and that you aren’t inadvertently dangling temptation before the eyes of the baddies. Our personal details are increasingly finding their way into the hands of fraudsters, so it’s time that everyone availed themselves of some privacy tips. If you have a study/office in your London home, then giving it a thorough safety overhaul can spare you from grief and anguish farther down the line.
- Off-site storage – Consider off-loading all your archives to a London storage service and going paperless. Not only will it result in your study being beautifully decluttered, it will mean more safety and more space. A good storage service will also mean easy archive retrieval when you need it.
- Safe place – For documents you intend to keep at home (driving license, passport, bank statements, anything containing personal details), use a secure place that only you can access, such as a strong safe.
- Shredders – Never throw away a document without first rendering it illegible using a paper-shredder. They’re easy to use and available inexpensively from any high street office supplies shop.
- Passwords – We know it’s tempting to use the same password for everything, or else variants of the same one, but it really is safer to have totally different ones for each account, and the same goes for PINs.
- Vigilance – Be very aware about emails purporting to be from the services you use (e.g. Paypal), especially if they ask for account details or attempt to nudge you to a hyperlink where you can change your password. You can often spot a phishing email because of spelling/grammar errors or by looking at the email address of the sender.
