These days, all students use technology in their everyday life. Pretty much everyone in college has a laptop, tablet, and, of course, a smartphone, which young people use for their studies, work, communication, and other purposes.
Needless to say, excessive use of technology is always associated with safety risks. When you store lots of your data on your smartphone and access dozens of web services and online resources every day, there is a high chance that your data will be leaked or stolen. But, the good news is that modern gadgets come with lots of solid data protection features to save you from potential hazards.
And in this article, we will tell you about the top seven features that every student must enable on their devices.
Contents
Tracking Prevention
Every student accesses a huge variety of apps, services, and websites every day. They use the Internet to research different topics, hire qualified paper writers at WritePaper to cope with a hefty academic load, communicate in real time with their friends, and do lots of other things. The bad news is that many of the sites and apps students use might be tracking their activities. And they can then use it to identify you. Thus, the very first feature you want to enable on your gadgets is tracking prevention.
Tracking prevention is available on both iOS and Android. This feature blocks all companies, sites, and apps from tracking your online activity. It basically works like a VPN by hiding your real IP address, thus, preventing third parties from identifying you based on your activity.
Two Factor Authentication
Two Factor Authentication (also known as 2-FA) is not a new feature. This technology was patented in 2000, and it is still one of the most vital data protection features on your phone and different online accounts. 2-FA is the main tip we can give you that would provide an extra layer of safety on top of a username and password you use for various digital services.
Basically, this feature requires users to verify themselves using two different authentication factors, for example, a password or passcode plus verification via another device or app, SMS code, etc. To ensure complete security, we recommend enabling Two Factor Authentication for your phone’s account (Apple ID on iOS or Google Account on Android), as well as for all key apps and web services that you use, including mail, messaging apps, etc.
Mail Privacy
According to statistics, an average person receives more than 100 emails every day. Students are not an exception. They often use email to communicate with their teachers, friends, family, and other people, and they are often subscribed to a variety of newsletters, not to mention all the spam we all receive. The more often you use it, the more data about you is stored there. Besides, some hackers and companies tend to insert a tracking pixel into emails to harvest data about users. So, here is one more feature you want to keep on to stay safe – mail privacy.
The mail privacy feature is similar to tracking prevention. It also hides your IP address and actions from other users, thus, preventing them from collecting and storing information about you. If you enable this option, your device will also block the tracking pixels used by marketers and hackers. As a result, you will be able to use email securely, and rest assured that no one will be able to track or identify you via email.
Location Permissions
There is no secret that many apps we use in our day-to-day lives have the possibility to access and track our locations. These apps include GPS navigators, taxi apps, maps, etc. Obviously, if you turn off location tracking on your gadget completely, you won’t be able to use such apps effectively. But, you also don’t want them to track your location all the time.
This brings us to another data and personal security feature that all students must turn on – location permission. If you enable it, apps that can track your location will always ask you for permission to do this before tracking it. How will this help? With the help of this setting, you will ensure that no third parties or frauds will know where you and your gadgets are located all the time. As a result, you can retain your privacy.
Find My Device
The next security feature all students must turn on is Find My Phone or Device. When enabled, this setting will let you figure out the exact location of your gadget in case it gets lost or stolen.
If you use it, you can rest assured that even if you lose your smartphone or someone steals it from you, you can gain it back quickly. This way, you can prevent unauthorized access to your private files and information. So, if you have it turned off, go to settings right now and switch it.
Auto Software Update
This is not exactly a data protection feature, but if you turn auto updates on, it can change the game. Given a major shift towards safety, all new OS updates roll out with more and more advanced security options. Thus, by keeping your device’s software up to date, you can avoid many issues.
Moreover, there is no secret that frauds and hackers find vulnerabilities in current versions of different software to use for their attacks. When developers learn about such vulnerabilities in their software, they fix them in new versions. So, by updating your software automatically, you can ensure that the OS and app versions you use have fewer vulnerabilities than older versions. Respectively, hackers have fewer chances to attack you.
Screen Lock
Lastly, one more feature students should always use on their smartphones, as well as other gadgets, is a screen lock. This one might sound like a no-brainer. Still, many young people neglect it.
Being the most basic data protection option on your gadget, a screen lock can save you from unauthorized access to the files and information stored on your devices. We know that many people prefer to keep their phones unlocked because they don’t want to forget the password. But, if you do so, rest assured that anyone will be able to access your data in case your gadget gets lost or stolen. And this can be very distressing.
Pro Tip: While passcode-based screen locks do protect your information, there are better, more innovative features out there. For example, a fingerprint or face scanner will protect your devices even better. So, if you have such options available, be sure to turn them on too.
The Bottom Line
With so many smart and portable devices that we use these days, our data remains at constant risk of being accessed, leaked, or stolen by others. Therefore, data protection is now more crucial than ever, especially if you are a student who stores lots of files and information on your devices.
Luckily, modern gadgets are equipped with a wide variety of features designed to keep you safe. After reading this article, you know about some of the handiest of them. Turn on all the features we told you about here to keep your data safe and sound at all times!
