As more and more people shop and communicate online, the amount of personal data shared and stored on the internet has increased. This has made users more vulnerable to personal data breaches as cybercriminals are employing increasingly sophisticated methods to steal personal information, putting individuals at risk of identity theft and financial loss. 

In this guide, we’ll define a personal data breach, explain how it can happen, and provide tips on how to spot, respond to, and prevent one. We'll also explore virtual cards and the ways they boost financial security when transacting online.

What Is a Personal Data Breach?

A personal data breach is an unauthorized or unlawful access to personal data that compromises its confidentiality, integrity, or security. Personal data includes any information that can directly or indirectly identify someone, such as their name, address, Social Security number, bank details, health information, or online account credentials. When this type of data falls into the wrong hands, it can be used for identity theft, financial fraud, and other malicious activities.

How Does a Personal Data Breach Happen?

Personal data breaches can result from a deliberate attack, human error, or system flaws and vulnerabilities in organizations' IT infrastructure. Common methods cybercriminals use to obtain your personal data include:

1. Hacking—Malicious actors use techniques such as malware attacks, advanced persistent threats (ATPs), and brute force attacks to access a system or network and steal sensitive data.
2. Keylogging—Hackers may install keylogging software on a device to record and transmit keystrokes. This way, they can track when someone types in their login credentials and payment card information and steal it.
3. Social engineering—Cybercriminals often disguise themselves as legitimate entities and manipulate individuals into sharing personal information through phishing scams, vishing (voice phishing), or smishing (SMS/text message phishing). They can also send deceptive emails with malicious attachments or links to fake websites requesting sensitive information.
4. Insider threats—Employees, contractors, or other trusted individuals with access to personal data may cause a breach due to negligence, malicious intent, or social engineering tactics.
5. Lost or stolen devices—Laptops, smartphones, USB drives, and other devices containing personal data can be lost or stolen, providing easy access to sensitive information if not properly secured.

How To Spot a Personal Data Breach

Detecting a personal data breach early on can help minimize the damage and prevent further data compromise. Here are some signs that may indicate a possible breach:

• Unauthorized transactions or activities on your financial accounts
• Suspicious emails, texts, or phone calls requesting personal information
• Unusual logins or changes to your online account without your authorization
• Notifications from a company or organization about a breach of their systems that may affect your personal information
• Unexplained changes to your credit score or credit report
• Receipt of bills or statements for accounts you didn’t open 

What To Do if You Notice Something Suspicious?

If you suspect a breach has happened and your personal information has been compromised, here's what you should do:

1. Act quickly—If your information gets stolen or exposed, notify your bank or credit card company immediately to prevent unauthorized transactions. You should get a free credit report from annualcreditreport.com and place a credit freeze to stop fraudsters from opening accounts in your name. If someone has already used your information to open accounts or for similar purposes, report the identity theft immediately.
2. Be cautious of future communications—The breached organization may contact you about the next steps and offer assistance. However, cybercriminals may also pose as the breached company or other legitimate entities to scam you further. Before responding to any communication, verify its authenticity by calling the organization's customer service number or checking its official website.
3. Consider identity theft protection—Sign up for an identity theft protection service that actively monitors public databases, dark web marketplaces, and broker sites for your personal information, like your financial data or contact details. If the service finds your information in compromised locations or detects suspicious activity, you’ll immediately receive an alert so you can take swift action to protect yourself from potential fraud or identity theft.

How To Prevent a Personal Data Breach

While you can't control the security practices of organizations you share your personal data with, there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of a breach:

• Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication—Weak, reused, or easily guessable passwords make it easier for hackers to access your accounts. Use a password manager such as LastPass, RoboForm, Bitwarden, or Bitdefender to generate and store unique, strong passwords for each account. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever possible to add an extra layer of security.
• Use a VPN when connected to public Wi-Fi networks—Public Wi-Fi hotspots are a common target for cybercriminals looking to intercept sensitive data. Virtual private networks (VPNs) such as Avast SecureLine, AVG VPN, and CyberGhost VPN encrypt your internet traffic, making it more difficult for hackers to intercept.
• Be cautious of suspicious emails, texts, and calls—Never click on links or open attachments from unknown senders. If someone requests your personal information by phone or message, verify that the request is legitimate before providing any data.
• Remove personal information from the internet—You can seek services from data removal companies to try and remove personal information from data broker websites and reduce the risk of it being exposed in a breach.
• Use virtual cards for online payments—Virtual cards have randomly generated card numbers that substitute your actual financial information, adding an extra layer of protection against fraud and breaches. If you get them from a dedicated provider like Privacy, you’ll also get advanced card settings for greater financial control.

Bolster Online Security With Privacy Virtual Cards

After linking your bank account or debit card to your Privacy account, you can generate virtual cards with unique numbers, expiration dates, and security codes and pay with them online. Privacy Virtual Cards let you minimize the amount of data you share online, and in the unfortunate event of a breach, your real payment information remains secure.

As a PCI-DSS compliant provider, Privacy is regularly audited by independent third-party companies to ensure its security measures are up-to-date and meet industry standards.

Other ways Privacy protects your sensitive data online include:

• Bank-grade encryption—Privacy uses AES-256 encryption to protect your data in transit and at rest. This is the same level of encryption used by banks and government agencies because it's practically impossible to crack.
• Two-factor authentication—After enabling 2FA, Privacy requires you to enter a unique code generated by an authenticator app or sent via SMS or email to grant account access.
• Transaction alerts—Privacy sends real-time notifications through email or SMS when your cards are used or declined, allowing you to quickly detect and respond to potentially suspicious activity.
• Fraud investigation—If you dispute a transaction, Privacy investigates it and files a chargeback against the merchant if there are grounds for it.

Privacy Card Types and Features

Depending on your needs, Privacy lets you create three types of virtual cards:

You can set spending limits and pause or close your Privacy Virtual Cards anytime without impacting the linked funding source. When you set a spending limit, any attempt to charge you more than the set amount will be declined, helping protect you against hidden fees and undisclosed price hikes. Pausing and closing a virtual card stops all future attempts at charging your card, helping shield your account from unexpected charges, such as those that might occur when stopping a subscription.

Additional Convenience Features

Privacy simplifies virtual card management with its integration with 1Password, which lets you secure your passwords and manage your cards from a single location. You can generate and use virtual cards straight from the 1Password browser extension, facilitating effortless online transactions.

Other convenience features include:

• Privacy App—Available on Android and iOS devices, the mobile app allows you to create new cards, monitor transactions, and set card controls from your smartphone.
• Privacy Browser Extension—You can install the browser extension for Edge, Firefox, Safari, Safari for iOS, and Google Chrome to autofill payment information and simplify online virtual card use.
• Shared Cards—Privacy allows you to securely share virtual cards with trusted friends or family without revealing sensitive data.
• Card Notes—To help you track transactions, Privacy lets you add purchase notes to virtual cards. For example, you can note what a particular card is for, the merchant name, or the next date you'll be charged.

How To Get a Privacy Virtual Card

To get started with Privacy, take these four steps:

1. Sign up for a Privacy account
2. Provide the required information to verify your identity
3. Connect a funding source
4. Request your virtual card
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Privacy offers four plans as outlined in the table below:

The Personal plan includes features such as Merchant-Locked & Single-Use Cards, spending limits and card pausing/closing, and access to the browser extension and mobile app. The Plus plan comes with all Personal features plus Category-Locked Cards, Shared Cards, Card Notes, Priority customer support, and Live Chat.

The Pro and Premium plans offer additional benefits such as fee-free foreign transactions and 1% cashback on eligible purchases (totaling up to $4,500/month).

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