At Civic, we are committed to the security of your accounts and data privacy. As part of that effort, you have an important role: knowing the various privacy policies of organizations you do business with, including Civic.

Companies routinely ask you to accept their privacy policies. However, studies show people rarely read the privacy statements or understand exactly what information they’re agreeing to share.

Knowing the content of these privacy statements helps you to better protect your privacy and personal data.

Read privacy policies

There’s no way around it. The only way to understand how your data can be used is to read the privacy policy. And most importantly, to know what controls are available to limit or allow the use of your personal data. Simply put, you must read the privacy policy.

3 things you must know before consenting to any policy:

• Type of personal information collected
• Security status of your collected data
• Sharing of your data with third parties, law enforcement, or government

While privacy policies are typically long, full of legal language, and can be difficult to read, it is the only way to share this important information with you. Carefully read through all options and choose the settings that fit your comfort level for sharing, if the site or app allows customization.

At Civic, we make sure our privacy policy is short and easy-to-read so you can understand how your information is used.

Manage your online cookies

Cookies are small files containing information websites store on your computer or device. They make your next visit to a website easier and make the site more useful to you. Cookies remember information about your visits, like your preferred language and other custom settings. They are designed to help improve your user experience. Cookies are used by businesses to better understand your interests by collecting data to improve the relevancy of ads and information that is related to your usage.

When you visit a website, the site shows you a notice informing you about a site’s use of cookies, terms of service, and privacy policies.

Many websites now offer you options to choose how much data you want to share (or not) through cookies. This gives you the opportunity to control what you share. So, the next time you see a button asking you to “accept cookies” take the time to get more information before pressing that button. It is an opportunity to learn more about how they use your data and control your privacy.

It’s also a good idea to delete cookies from your browser regularly. It’s easy to do — just clear your browser history.

As our digital world continues to evolve, it is essential to stay up to date with data privacy issues. These basic tips outlined here can help you learn more about how websites use your data and how to better protect your privacy.