A lot of people are very careless when it comes to protecting their personal and sensitive information. There are many cases of identity thefts, credit cards frauds, internet banking frauds all the time but it seemed that no one really put serious thoughts into protecting and making sure that their personal information are not compromised till it is too late.

Recently, I have a very frustrating incident in which I realized the important of protecting my personal and sensitive information. I have to send my laptop to a local service center for repair. Before I sent my laptop for repair, I ensure that I have all my information lock all and encrypt in a folder, clear away all my saved passwords, caches, browsing history and so on to prevent people from accessing my personal information. Thinking that this was enough, I sent in my laptop.

Imagine my horrors when a week later I called up the service center to collect my laptop, only for me to discover that someone has actually collected mine. I totally freaked out! How could it be possible for someone to collect my laptop without my authorization and the laptop service form to boot?

I spent an agonizing 2 days going to and fro the service center, waiting for updated information and a replacement laptop. During this period time, I have to change all my login passwords to various email accounts, payment accounts and more. I have to do all these as I was worried that my personal information if it falls to the wrong hands will have devastating consequences.

To cut the whole story short, in the end I got back my laptop but the point is I realized that I was too complacent in protecting my personal information and data. The next time round, if I ever have to send in my laptop or computer for repair again, I will just have to do a backup first and wipe off all traces and personal data before sending in for repair. It pays to be more careful especially when it comes to stuff like personal information and data.