Shoulder surfing & screen snooping
Watching eyes reading your screen, or your keystrokes.
Understand it
On a train, in a café or an open office, someone close by can read sensitive material off your screen, or watch you enter a PIN or password - no technology needed.
How to spot it
Sensitive work on show in public, or credentials typed where others can see.
Close the gap
A privacy screen is a thin filter that fits over a laptop or phone screen. It narrows the viewing angle, so you see the screen clearly from straight on while someone beside you sees it darken. It's worth having if you work on trains, in cafés or in shared offices. It won't stop someone directly behind you, so pair it with a sensible seat and a screen lock when you step away. Any brand that fits your screen size will do; we don't recommend a particular one.
- Fit a privacy filter to laptop and phone.
- Sit with your back to a wall in public, and mind the angles.
- Shield PIN entry; avoid sensitive logins in a crowd.
- Lock the screen the moment you step away.
Further reading
What to do about it
This is what your gadgets and network quietly give off. You can't silence all of it, but reviewing each device's privacy settings - and the device steps in your plan - pulls it back a long way.