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. The threats change year to year too, so this isn't just tidying up old mess, it's making sure the habits I'm relying on actually match this year's risks rather than the ones that mattered five years ago.

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. I also close accounts I genuinely don't use anymore rather than leaving them sitting there, since a dormant account is still a target even if I never log into it again, and it's one less place my data can turn up in a future breach I never hear about.

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. Browser extensions get the same review, since it's easy to install one for a single task and forget it's still running months later with access to everything you type or browse. If I can't remember installing something or explain why I still need it, it comes out.

The Old Accounts and Subscriptions I Track Down

This is the part people skip, but it's often where the most forgotten data is sitting. I go through old email accounts I've stopped using and either close them properly or at least update the password and turn on two factor authentication, since an abandoned inbox is still full of years of personal information and password reset links waiting to be found. I do the same with subscription services and old shopping accounts, checking which ones still have a card saved and cancelling anything I'm not actually using anymore. It's rarely one big discovery, just several small ones that add up to a much smaller footprint by the time I'm done.

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. I check my account recovery details are current too, the backup email and phone number attached to my most important accounts, since a recovery option pointing at a number I don't use anymore is exactly the kind of gap that turns a simple password reset into a genuine problem.

What I Do If the Check-Up Turns Up a Problem

Some years this throws up something worth acting on straight away, a password manager flags a password that's already appeared in a breach, or I find an old account I don't recognise logging in from. When that happens I change the password immediately, check the account's recent activity or login history for anything else unfamiliar, and turn on two factor authentication if it wasn't already on. I'd rather find a problem during a calm afternoon check-up than have it find me at a worse moment, and dealing with it early is almost always simpler than untangling it after the fact.

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. An afternoon once a year is a small price for not having to think about any of this the rest of the time, and it's the kind of habit that gets easier, not harder, the more times you do it.