Office of Information Technology

Jan 26 - 30, 2026 is Data Privacy Week

Data Privacy Week is an annual campaign aimed at raising awareness about data privacy and educating individuals on how to protect their personal information. This year’s theme is “Take Control of Your Data”. All your online activity generates a trail of data. Websites, apps, and services collect data on your behaviors, interests, and purchases. Sometimes, this includes personal data, like your Social Security and driver's license numbers. It can even include data about your physical self, such as health data – think about how a smartwatch counts and records the number of steps you take.

While it's true that you cannot control how each byte of data about you and your family is shared and processed, you are not helpless! In many cases, you can control how you share your data with a few simple steps. Remember, your data is precious, and you deserve to be selective about who you share it with!

Here are some simple, easy tips that will help you manage your data privacy:

1. Know the Tradeoff Between Privacy and Convenience

Nowadays, when you download a new app, open a new online account, or join a new social media platform, you are often asked to grant access to your personal information before you can even use it. This data might include your geographic location, contacts, and photos.

For these businesses, the personal information about you is tremendously valuable – and you should consider whether the service you receive is worth the data you must provide, even if the service is free.

Make informed decisions about sharing your data with businesses or services:

• Is the service, app, or game worth the amount or type of personal data they want in return?
• Can you maintain control over your data privacy while still using the service?
• Is the data requested even relevant for the app or service (that is, "why does a Solitaire game need to know all my contacts")?
• If you haven't used an app, service, or account in several months, is it worth keeping around, knowing that it might be collecting and sharing your data?

2. Adjust Setting to Your Compfort Level

For every app, account, or device, check the privacy and security settings. These should be easy to find in a Settings section and should take a few moments to change. Set them to your comfort level for sharing personal information; generally, we think it's wise to lean towards sharing less data, not more.

You don't have to do this for every account at once. Start small, and over time, you'll develop a habit of adjusting all your settings to your comfort level. The National Cybersecurity Alliance offers in-depth, free resources, including the Manage Your Privacy Settings page, which enables you to review the settings of your social media accounts, retail stores, apps, and other online services.

3. Protect Your Data

Data privacy and data security are closely intertwined. Along with managing your data privacy settings, follow some simple cybersecurity tips to keep it safe. We recommend following the Core 4:

• Create long, unique passwords (at least 16 characters) for each account and device. Use a password manager to store each password – maintaining dozens of passwords securely is now easier than ever.
• Turn on multifactor authentication (MFA) wherever it is permitted – this keeps your data safe even if your password is compromised.
• Turn on automatic device, software, and browser updates, or ensure that you install updates as soon as they become available.
• Learn how to identify phishing messages, which can be sent as emails, texts, or direct messages.

Data privacy and the protection of personal information are important to TAMIU. In recognition of the week, we will provide helpful information on data privacy and offer tips on how to achieve this effectively.

Learn More About Data Privacy Week