Digital Safety for Online Creators

In 2024, creating and sharing content online in various capacities has become more and more common as work. Whether you’re a blogger, YouTuber, social media influencer, or specialise in a different form of content creation, you need to seriously consider your digital safety.

When so much of your work and identity is tied to the online space, there are essential things you need to be aware of, and tactics to have in place to ensure you’re protecting your content as well as your personal information. Here are the most important things you need to do.

Be Mindful of Personal Details

When you’re sharing anything with a large audience, you need to be extra mindful about providing any personal information.

Of course, you should avoid sharing any private information with the public, like your phone number, home address, or financial information. If you’re concerned that any of this information is already out there, you can use DeleteMe’s service to have it removed from the web. This is especially important for those who share many of their personal lives online (such as Instagram influencers or vloggers) and have a large following. Unfortunately, these types of creators are often more at risk of crimes like identity theft and online stalking.

Secure Your Accounts

On top of being super careful with what you decide to share online, you also need to ensure that all your accounts are as secure and protected as possible. For creators, losing access to your accounts could mean losing access to your ability to earn a living, so this is essential.

For every platform you use, make sure you use a strong and unique password and enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). To keep track of all your different passwords (don’t repeat them!), use a password manager app or even a good old piece of pen and paper – so long as you’re sure you won’t misplace it. It’s also a good idea to change your passwords every couple of months, just in case.

Copyright and Content Protection

As a creator, your work becomes your intellectual property and can be protected by law.

Make sure you take the time to learn about copyright regulations and how and when they apply to you and your work. You can watermark any of your original content that is shared online to prevent illegal use, and also use software like Google or YouTube’s Content ID to keep any eye open for any copyright infringement. Protecting what you create is an important part of your job that shouldn’t be neglected!

Be Aware of Scams

Finally, keep in mind that we’re all vulnerable and susceptible to things like phishing attacks and other scams. Keep an eye open and stay vigilant, especially when you work online and receive a tonne of emails with work opportunities.

Treat strange emails, texts, and links with a healthy dose of skepticism, and don’t be afraid to ask for identity confirmation if you’re unsure where a message is coming from. Anything that asks for your private information requests that you download something, or sounds like an offer that’s too good to be true, should probably be ignored.

Frank Jones, CISSP

Frank Jones has loved computers from the age of 13. Frank got his hacking career started when he downloaded a war dialing program that he used to detect dial up modems in his hometown of Chicago. Frank Jones now works as a JAVA coder and cyber security researcher.