Don’t save your data on third-party devices

When using someone else's device, whether in internet cafes, libraries, at school, or even at family and friends' houses, some care is needed to ensure that your personal data is not at risk and to maintain your privacy.

If possible, don’t use these computers, tablets, or smartphones to access services that require a login and password, or that involve sensitive personal data, such as email, shopping websites, social media, banking, etc. Even if you fully trust the owner of the borrowed device, it’s impossible to guarantee that the equipment is not contaminated with spyware or other malicious software that seeks to collect information.

But if you really need to access these types of services, use anonymous or private browsing. Just go to your browser menu and choose the “New Incognito Window” option (or similar depending on the browser). When you close your browser, your browsing history information and cookies will be deleted, logging you off from the websites you used. If you forget to use private browsing, you can also delete the data manually in the browser history.

Other important precautions: Don’t select the option to keep you logged in to sites, and don’t save your login and password on the borrowed device.

Even if you take these precautions, we recommend changing the passwords of the websites you accessed on the borrowed computer as soon as you can use your own device.

Follow these tips and protect your data!

Find out more:
https://cartilha.cert.br/fasciculos/#computadores (portuguese only)

https://cartilha.cert.br/fasciculos/#celulares-e-tablets (portuguese only)

Topic suggested by Rodrigo Cardoso Silva

Video description

In the first scene, two boys, one in a green shirt and one in an orange shirt are sitting at a table. The boy in orange uses a laptop and the boy in green asks to borrow it. The boy in the orange shirt gives the laptop to the boy in the green shirt. Above is the phrase: “When using a shared computer, avoid logging into your profiles.”

In the second scene, the phrase that appears is “But if you must, never save your access data.” Then the boy in the green t-shirt appears pensive, and next to him a browser screen shows a login page where he enters his login and password but doesn’t select the “Keep me logged in” option. When he clicks the button to log in, the browser displays a message asking if he wants to save the password, and he clicks “No.”

In the third scene, the same boy in green is looking through a magnifying glass at an anonymous/private browsing page, and then the phrase changes to “Choose anonymous browsing.” The browser disappears and the phrase is completed by “or clear your history” and, in this moment, pages from the browser history fall into a trashcan and the lid closes immediately.

In the last scene, the boy in green walks to an open door, he goes in and closes the door. A sign with the word “Private” appears on the door. The last sentence is “Protect your safety and privacy.”