ReclaimMyID

Mobile devices, such as cell phones, tablets and even laptops, are great for long plane or car rides. These devices allow you to kill time by watching movies, scouring the internet or playing a game. However, there are some things you need to watch out for to ensure your information is safe. Take note of these mobile device safety tips for holiday travelers in order to protect yourself from possibly identity threats. The holidays are the busiest time of the year for airports and train stations, so stay alert.

Tips For Traveling Safely With A Mobile Device

Know where your device or laptop is at all times. This may sound like common sense, but if you sit your phone down in a busy airport and take your eye off of it, someone could snatch it in an instant. Your devices carry a ton of personal information, so take strides to secure them in a safe place.
Turn off Bluetooth when you aren’t using it. Criminals have been known to connect to mobile devices through their open Bluetooth signal. This will allow access to personal information that you want to keep private.
Avoid public WiFi when sending personal information. When online shopping, banking, sending confidential e-mails or accessing files from a cloud based storage service, stay off of public WiFi. When logged in to a public WiFi network, the information you send is sent through a the shared network for a certain amount of time. Skilled thefts can access your information during this short window and use it to possibly steal your identity. If you must complete a confidential task that requires the internet, use your phone’s cellular data instead of WiFi. This is one of the most important mobile device safety tips for holiday travelers.
Only charge your device with a charger plugged into a wall outlet. You may know that many devices can be charged via USB. This allows you to plug your device into a computer or laptop and it will charge the device. However, this also can allow access to your files through the computer or laptop. Never charge your device through a medium that you don’t control, such as a stranger’s laptop or a public charging station.

Traveling can be stressful, and it is difficult to stay focused on small issues such as the ones listed above. These small issues can turn into large ones if your information falls into the wrong hands. We hope that these mobile device safety tips for holiday travelers allow you to ease some stress while on the go.