The goal of this book was to increase your awareness of the many ways each of us give away personal information every day, usually without even realizing it. In many instances, we cannot control how this information is used by others. After reading this book, however, you have learned that there are many opportunities to protect your privacy and take control of some of your personal information.

Some of the suggestions we provided seem like common sense, but others take a little more effort on your part. Here are the main items you should consider:

1. Use strong passwords.
2. Limit the information you post on social media sites.
3. Be aware that your driving habits are being observed through license plate scans and your car’s telematics.
4. Never subscribe to unsolicited credit cards.
5. Monitor your credit on all three nationwide credit bureaus.
6. Limit your use of debit cards.
7. Understand how your personal information is revealed to marketing and data brokers and opt out of data sharing whenever you are given the opportunity.
8. Sign up for the Do Not Call list.
9. Protect your personal information on your Smartphone by using the security lockout feature.
10. Shred documents containing financial or personally identifiable information such as your social security number to prevent identity theft.
11. Only donate to charities you know give the majority of the donation to the needy—not to marketing companies.
12. Understand your right to access your medical records and keep a close check on suspicious statements.
13. Make a list of your digital assets and determine if you need to include them in your will.
14. Read the privacy policies from your bank and investment firm and opt out of any customer data sharing.
15. Never open an email from an unknown source.

You may have to adopt some new habits, but the more you protect your data the better you will sleep at night, knowing you have done all you can to insure your privacy. We can’t guarantee you won’t ever be hacked, but monitoring your accounts will allow you to shut down any breaches quickly with a minimum of damage and aggravation.