The Digital Safety Check-Up I Do Every Year

Why I Do This Every January

Every January I sit down and go through my entire digital life like an MOT for my accounts. It sounds excessive until you remember most of us set up our passwords, privacy settings and old accounts years ago and never look at them again. A yearly check-up catches the stuff that quietly builds up: forgotten logins, apps you don't use anymore that still hold your data, and settings that changed without you noticing. It takes an afternoon and it's saved me more than once.

Passwords and Logins Get Checked First

I start with passwords because they're the weakest link in most people's setup. I go through my password manager and look for anything reused, anything short, and anything I haven't touched in years, those old accounts are exactly the kind of thing that shows up in a breach nobody tells you about. If you're still keeping passwords in your head or a notebook, I've written before about whether that actually holds up. I use NordPass myself because it flags weak and reused passwords automatically instead of me hunting for them one by one.

Reviewing App Permissions and Privacy Settings

Next I go through the apps on my phone and check what they actually have access to, location, contacts, microphone, and I switch off anything that doesn't need to be on. Social media privacy settings get the same treatment, since platforms have a habit of quietly resetting things after an update. It only takes ten minutes but it closes off a surprising number of ways your information can leak out without you doing anything wrong.

Checking My Devices and Backups

I also check that every account with real value, email, banking, anything worth protecting, has two factor authentication properly switched on rather than just offered. Then I check my backups actually work, not just that they exist, and I make sure my devices are running the latest updates. If I'm working from a cafe or anywhere on public wifi, I always have NordVPN running before I do anything I wouldn't want a stranger on the same network reading.

The Checklist I Actually Use

My checklist is short: password manager reviewed, two factor authentication turned on everywhere it matters, app permissions trimmed back, backups tested, and devices updated. None of it takes long once it's a habit, and it's a lot less stressful than sorting things out after something's already gone wrong. My Safety Toolkit has the password manager and VPN I use for all of this, and if you'd rather I just walked you through it, get in touch and I'll help you set it up properly.