With your password, anyone can access your account pretending to be you. Protect your passwords like you would the Personal Identification Number to your bankcards. Be especially suspicious if someone claiming to be with the company from whom you have a password asks for it — they should already have it!

• Don't create passwords that are similar to your real name, a commonly used nickname, or your online screen name. Use a phrase or a series of letters and/or numbers that you can easily remember but that would be hard for others to guess. For example, pick a phrase you can remember like "I only eat oysters on Sunday" and use the first letter of each word as your password. Replace I's with the numeral one and O's with zeros. Your password would be 10e00s.
   
• Changing your passwords from time to time reduces the chance that someone else might successfully impersonate you online.
   
• Don't store your passwords near your computer or on your desk where others might easily find them.
   
• If you get an email that looks like it's from your Internet Service Provider or someone else with whom you have an account asking to confirm your password, don't respond until you've checked with the company directly.
  

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Email isn't private.

Email is like a postcard — it's possible for someone who has access to your computer system, someone other than the person it's addressed to at the other end, or someone else online to read it. Don't discuss things you consider to be very sensitive or send information like credit card numbers through email.

• You can use email cryptography software to scramble your messages in a private code to make them more secure.
   
• Be careful when you type in an email address because if you make a mistake your message might go to the wrong person. Put frequently used addresses in your email address book so you don't have to retype them each time.
   
• If you receive an email that was sent to a group of people and you want to reply to the sender but don't want the others to see your message, use "reply to author."
   
• To prevent others from getting into your email, close your email program when you're not using it.
   

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Know about "cookies."

Cookies are bits of electronic information that can be placed on your computer when you visit Web sites. They show what you do at that site and they also may track other Web sites that you visit. Cookies are used to identify visitors for customer service, customizing information and preferences, marketing, and other purposes such as fast checkout. You can set your browser or use special software to detect cookies and choose whether, and when, to allow them. Look at a Web site's privacy policy to see what it says about cookies.

• Cookies identify the computer, not the person using it. But information that you provide about yourself to a Web site may be linked to the cookie that is placed on your computer.
   
• Some Web sites use cookies to identify visitors instead of requiring them to enter their passwords every time they visit. It may be necessary to accept cookies from certain sites if you want to access them.
   
• Be aware that cookies might be used not only by Web sites themselves, but by advertisers on those sites.
   
• To check for cookie files that have been deposited on your computer, look for a file on your hard drive labeled "cookies.txt" or go to the directory\windows\cookies. You can delete these files from your hard drive if you wish.
  

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Watch out for "spam."

Email is a great way to communicate. But you may receive mail from a company or charity that isn't familiar to you. Like telemarketing calls, an email may be legitimate or it could be a scam. If you're not interested, delete the message. Don't reply to sender — that will just confirm that your email address is correct. Reputable sites should make it easy for you to subscribe or unsubscribe to email lists.

• To reduce the amount of unsolicited email you receive in your main inbox, consider using two email addresses, one when you are communicating with friends and colleagues, the other when you are dealing with companies or organizations.
   
• There are tools to help you weed out unwanted email. Some email packages and online services offer filtering programs that allow only messages from users or about services you've approved in advance.
   
• Business self-regulation programs can help you remove your email address from their members' marketing lists.
   
• Sending spam usually violates online service agreements. To identify the service provider in order to make a complaint, look at the "domain name" that follows the @ sign in the sender's email address.
   
• Look for privacy policies on the Web sites you visit to see if they enable you to control whether you will receive emails from that Web site or from others with whom your contact information might be shared.
  

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Sometimes you may want to be anonymous.

If you are especially concerned about protecting your privacy online — for example, if you are researching a sensitive issue such as your personal health — there are tools such as anonymous remailers that you can use to mask your identity.

• Just because you're asked to provide personal information to a Web site or to someone you're communicating with online doesn't mean it's necessary.
   
• There are an increasing number of programs being offered that enable consumers to make transactions online through third parties and keep their personal information private.
  

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Decide what information you want to provide.

A company or organization may ask you for personal information for customer service or just to find out more about the people who visit its Web site. Your information might also be used by that site or shared with others for marketing and other purposes. Web sites should have easy-to-find privacy policies explaining exactly what information, if any, is collected, how it's used, whether it is shared with others and what control you have over your personal information.