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Why getting online at your local coffee shop may not be safe.

You are here: Home / Social Media Articles / Why getting online at your local coffee shop may not be safe.

March 9, 2013 //  by Mike Allton

Reading Time: 2 minutes

If you’re like me, whenever you’re at a coffee shop, or anyplace else that offers free WiFi, you probably take advantage of that and connect your phone. While the free WiFi isn’t always faster than my 4G cell phone service, connecting to WiFi makes sure I don’t impact my cell phone plan’s data quota, and some apps and downloads will only work on WiFi. So what’s the problem?

Privacy.

When you connect any device to a WiFi, you’re connecting your system to that network, and potentially making your system visible and vulnerable to other devices on the same network. I won’t bore you with the technical details of how that can happen, but the fact is, it’s a possibility.

As we use our smart phones for more and more tasks and activities, this privacy issue is becoming of greater concern. I use my iPhone for a lot more than just browsing the Internet. There’s no way I want anyone else to have access to the information on my phone or for them to be able to monitor what I do at any given moment.

This should be of particular concern to business owners. Sales people are out having meetings in their local Starbucks and their phones might contain valuable client contact information, project documents, and other business data that must be protected.

Facebook is reporting more mobile users than web users, and of course Apple is working hard to put a smartphone in the hands of every person on the planet. Mobile security and privacy is a large and growing issue.

Fortunately, I found a cool app that can help! It’s called HotSpot Shield for iOS [iTunes link] (there’s a version for your laptop too). What this app does is automatically encrypt your connection to WiFi so that your information and activity is far more secure.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Image courtesy of Adam Tinworth, Flickr.

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About Mike Allton

Mike Allton is a Content Marketing Practitioner – a title he invented to represent his holistic approach to content marketing that leverages blogging, social media, email marketing and SEO to drive traffic, generate leads, and convert those leads into sales. He is an award-winning Blogger, Speaker, and Author, and Head of Strategic Partnerships at Agorapulse.

Mike is a Virtual Event Consultant and has partnered with Jenn Herman, Stephanie Liu, Amanda Robinson and Eric Butow to write Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing published by Entrepreneur Press.

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Mike Allton is a Virtual Event Strategist, and an award-winning blogger, speaker, and author at The Social Media Hat, where he has been educating businesses and organizations on the best use of content marketing for reaching and converting target audiences. Mike is proud to serve as the Head of Strategic Partnerships at Agorapulse, where he builds relationships with influencers and brands around the world.

Since 2012, Mike has has spearheaded hundreds of live shows and virtual events, reaching tens of thousands of potential customers on behalf of represented brands. He has established a reputation for being able to explain complex tools or topics in easy to understand ways, all while bringing a necessary sense of overall brand strategy and business purpose.

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