Equifax Hack may affect 143 Million Americans

Equifax Hack may affect 143 Million Americans

Equifax, one of the leading credit reporting companies, said that hackers may have gained access to the personal information of 143 million Americans, including social security numbers and driver’s license numbers.  Equifax is the epitome of Big Data, collecting every bit of data about us, and then trafficking in that data for huge profits.

To Check if you were affected, go to www.equifaxsecurity2017.com and click on the Check Potential Impact tab. You must submit your last name and last six digits of your Social Security number there.

The Problem is widespread

The problem with the current state of Cyber-Security is that they only focus on keeping intruders out, and when that fails our personal privacy and financial security is compromised. With the data that was hacked, thieves can now open up credit card accounts, take out loans and even gain access to our bank accounts. The current system is designed for Big Data to quickly and easily profit from our personal information, and often that is at the expense of our personal privacy and security.

 New Laws

The Equifax hack has already generated a tremendous outcry from both Washington and State lawmakers to put in place new laws and rules that require Big Data to better protect our information. The personal privacy protection that DatChat has been focused on is now coming to center stage.

DatChat has the Solution & Perfect Timing

 The Personal Privacy Platform and the core technology that DatChat has developed is focused on fixing two major security flaws in the current system:

 ·     Protecting & Controlling our information after we hit send or submit.

 ·     Making our information useless to an intruder should they get it

 The file storage and financial transaction components of our personal privacy platform are the ideal solution for Big Data to protect our critical personal and financial information.  Additionally, the new laws that will most probably result because of the Equifax hack will make our platform essential.

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Social Media Privacy Tip

The more time we spend on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, the more important it becomes that we take a few basic precautions to protect our privacy.  Here are a few tips that are both easy and effective.

Delete Your Facebook Search Data:  Did you know that all your searches on Facebook are saved unless you delete them.  Every search is logged and kept in a list organized by date and time.  While you might want to keep recent searches for a few weeks, there is no reason to keep detailed historical search data. Luckily, this is a quick and simple fix.

To Delete, simply click in the search box and you will see a link to see and edit all your recent searches.  They are all there.

Select Edit and then select “Clear Searches”.  Your entire search history will be completely deleted.

Privacy Settings

It is important to actively manage your privacy settings in order to make sure you that your posts, photos, check-Ins and likes are only seen by those you want to see them.  Every few weeks take a few minutes to click on the Privacy Settings on your social media accounts.  I

Photo GPS

Turn off the GPS function on your smartphone camera.   If you plan to share photos online, make sure that you turn off the GPS on your device to keep your exact location private.  It is amazing how someone can track you from the data in your pictures and a picture search.

It only takes a few minutes to make sure our personal information is safe.  As more of our information is archived forever by the social media we all use, it is even more important to make sure that we share only what we want to be part of our permanent social record.

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Self-Destructing & Screenshot Protected Texting for iMessage Launched by DatChat

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Nov. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DatChat Inc., today announced the availability of DatChat for iMessage. DatChat for iMessage allows iMessage users the ability to easily send or receive self-destructing and screenshot protected messages without ever leaving the iMessage app.  All messages are encrypted and can be un-sent at any time after sending. Additionally, DatChat provides privacy and confidentiality for your messaging without sacrificing the ability to see the entire message at once.

DatChat for iMessage provides senders with a new level of privacy and control for their messaging.  Senders can set a message to automatically self-destruct after the exact number of views or time that they choose.  At any time a sender can un-send a message by simply pressing the Destruct button.  Additionally, users can enable screenshot protection on pictures and texts to further protect their privacy.  DatChat for iMessage is available Free on the iMessage App Store for iOS 10 iPhones and iPads.  More information is available at DatChat.com.

"We have all had those moments when you wished you could un-send a message or simply make sure it doesn't last forever," said Darin Myman, co-founder and CEO of DatChat Inc. "Now with DatChat for iMessage, you can easily protect your privacy without having to leave iMessage."

Using DatChat for iMessage is easy. Simply create a message and send. To un-send a message just tap a sent message and hit Destruct.  Once messages self-destruct they are gone forever.  All DatChat messages are encrypted and can't be saved, forwarded or printed.

A Picture is worth a Thousand ways to find You

A picture is worth a Thousand ways to find You

Sharing a simple picture via text or social media says a lot more about you than what you see in your selfie. Almost all pictures taken with a cell phone contain Meta Data.  Meta Data in a digital photo may contain your name, contact info, what type of camera was used, geo-tags that give the location it was taken, exposure information, searchable key words and much more.  Keep in mind who and where you share your pictures because they may bocome a road map to your house.

Even stripping out the Meta data may not protect your privacy.  Using image search engines such as TinEye or Google image search can help you find out someones name, social media accounts, location and more.  Now, even blurring out parts of an image may not protect you.

We developed DatChat to protect your privacy by preventing forwarding, stripping out the meta data,  encrypting the image and always giving you control to self-destruct it anytime you want.

Stay safe and remember that once a picture is uploaded to social media assume it will be there forever.