Take Control of Your Data in January 2026

In 2026, the theme of Data Privacy Week, between January 26 and 30, is “Take Control of Your Data,” to empower individuals to become aware and take charge of their digital footprint. 

Every day bad actors attempt get access to personal information for malicious purposes. Because this happens so often, any one of us can be affected. Taking a few easy steps to protect your information can greatly lower your risk. Read the article below to learn how to safeguard your information.

The balance between privacy and convenience   

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

• Be selective about the apps you download. Check the app ratings and be aware of look-alike apps with similar names.
• Consider the following when using apps:
  • Can you control your data privacy and still use the service?
  • Is the data requested required in order to use the app or service? (e.g. check if you can play that game without giving it access to all your 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?

Adjust privacy settings to your comfort level  

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

You don’t have to do this for every account at once. Start small and over time you’ll make a habit of adjusting all your settings to your comfort. There are in-depth, free resources available like the National Cybersecurity Alliance's Manage Your Privacy Settings page that lets you check the settings of social media accounts, retail stores, apps, and more.

Protect your data

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

1. Create long (at least 12 characters), unique passwords for each account and device. Use a password manager to store each password, such as 1Password Password Manager.
2. Turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) wherever it is permitted. This keeps your data safe even if your password is compromised.
3. Turn on automatic device, software, and browser updates, or make sure you install updates as soon as they are available.
4. Learn how to identify phishing messages, which can be sent as fraudulent calls, emails, texts, or direct messages, all designed to get you to disclose sensitive information, such as your Social Security Number or credit card information.

Want to learn more about Privacy at UC Davis? Visit their website or contact [email protected].