The National Association of REALTORS^® (NAR) conducted a survey of its membership to learn more about the risks that REALTORS^® face regularly as well as to determine how agents and their companies address safety protocol. NAR’s 2018 Member Safety Report can be found at www.nar.realtor/sites/default/files/documents/2018-member-safety-report-09-12-2018.pdf.

One of the items in the survey that caught my attention indicated that, “The typical REALTOR^® reported feeling unsafe less than once a year (53 percent) in terms of personal safety, but unsafe in terms of personal information every few months or more often (62 percent).

Part of being a great real estate agent is being identified as the “go-to person” in your market or for a specific type of property. Therefore, your digital footprint is often greater than the average person. And if all things go as planned, you are seen.

So if you are really good at being seen, then you may be at greater risk. For this reason, the goal of this article is simple: provide resources to help you understand how to protect your personal information.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) identifies four main ways to protect your information: 

1. Know who you share information with.
2. Store and dispose of your personal information securely.
3. Be thoughtful and ask questions before deciding to share personal information.
4. Secure your computers and other electronic devices.

The FTC provides suggestions such as beware of impersonators, encrypt your data, don’t over-share on social media, be careful of public Wi-Fi, read privacy policies and more.  

Learn more in the FTC’s article, “How to Keep Your Personal Information Secure,” at www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0272-how-keep-your-personal-information-secure.

Cori Lamont is Senior Director of Legal and Public Affairs for the WRA. 

Resources

WRA resources 

• “5 Keys to Internet Safety,” in the September 2018 Wisconsin Real Estate Magazine : www.wra.org/WREM/Sep18/InternetSafety.
• “Safe. Secure. Successful.” in the September 2016 Wisconsin Real Estate Magazine : www.wra.org/WREM/Sept16/Safety.
• “Online Privacy: Protecting Personally Identifiable Information,” in the October 2015 Wisconsin Real Estate Magazine: www.wra.org/WREM/Oct15/Privacy.
• “Tighten It Up! 10 things you need to do immediately to protect your online privacy,” in the October 2015 Wisconsin Real Estate Magazine:  www.wra.org/WREM/Oct15/OnlinePrivacy.

NAR resources

• NAR’s Data Security and Privacy Toolkit: www.nar.realtor/data-privacy-security/nars-data-security-and-privacy-toolkit.