How you can keep your personal data safe

With so much of our time and activity spent online, it's increasingly important to know how best to protect personal information from third parties who may have malicious intentions.

By following the information and guidance below, you can help to keep your details secure so that you stay as safe as possible online.

• You should always consider your personal data to be sensitive information. This includes details such as your name, address, email, telephone numbers, bank and credit card details, health information and much more. Be cautious about what you share online, especially information relating to your identity, as it has the potential to be used to impersonate you or predict your passwords.

• Use strong passwords and update them often using a mixture of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols which make them difficult to guess. Avoid the use of personal information such as your name, date of birth or commonly used phrases. Password managers encrypt your list of passwords with a master password, meaning you only have one password to remember. Remember not to share password information with others.

• Spam or ‘phishing’ emails and text messages are often used to encourage you to disclose private account or log in information. If you think something isn’t right, don't click any of the links. Instead, you should contact your provider or the company they're appearing to be to establish the authenticity of the message.

• Be wary of who you talk to online because unfortunately not everyone you speak to over the web is who they claim to be. Be vigilant to avoid sharing our personal information with fraudsters or robot hackers. Don't send any money or click on any links they share with you.