Staying in control of your digital footprint
Public Wi-Fi: what to do there, and what to leave for later
What you will be able to do In 6 minutes, you'll know what you can do on public Wi-Fi, and what's better kept for later.
In a train station, a café, or a waiting room, a free wireless network is sometimes offered: that's public Wi-Fi. Handy when your mobile data is running low, it also comes with its own rules. An open network, with no password, can in theory be watched by other people in the same place, and a fake network can even be set up on purpose to intercept what passes through it, under a similar or even strictly identical name. That doesn't mean you should refuse everything: some actions are fine there, others are better saved for a trusted connection. We're going to practice together on a network and a place we made up. Nothing here is real, no device is actually connected.
Simulated screen
I practice
This screen was drawn by us. Nothing is sent, nothing is installed, and no real brand is shown.
The situationYou're waiting for your train, your mobile data is nearly gone, and a network offers to connect you for free.
The interactive exercise needs JavaScript. The written step by step, just below, says exactly the same thing.
The written step by step
The same steps, in words, to read or print. This sheet works even without the exercise.
Check the exact name of the network
Your turn A staff member gave you the exact name of the station's network: "Station-WiFi". Tap the one that truly matches.
"Station-WiFi", with nothing added or changed, is the only name that exactly matches what the staff member announced. This sorting rules out the crude traps; it does not make the network safe.
Give as little as possible
Your turn A page asks for your information before letting you through. Tap the most careful choice.
You give as little information as possible to this kind of page, and never the email address of your important accounts.
Choose what you do once connected
Your turn Tap what you can safely do on this network, which is open to everyone.
Checking a timetable or the news involves neither a password nor money: it's the kind of action that suits a network open to everyone.
Leave cleanly
Your turn The train arrives. Tap what you do with this network before leaving.
You stop the device from reconnecting on its own to this network: next time, it will take a deliberate action to reconnect.
The sheet to keep
- Public Wi-Fi is an open network: whatever passes through it unencrypted can be observed. Most sites now encrypt their exchanges, when the address starts with https: that encryption is what protects the content, not the network's name.
- A network name can be copied, nearly or exactly: a name alone never authenticates a network.
- The exact name of a network is checked with the place itself: a staff member, a poster, a receipt. That rules out crude look-alikes, without making the network a trusted connection.
- On a public network, timetables and news pass through fine; banking, purchases, and important passwords wait for a trusted connection.
- A page that asks for information before letting you through only needs the minimum, never the email address of your important accounts.
- Before leaving, you stop the device from reconnecting on its own to this network next time.
The reflexes in this skill
I stop before I click
Urgency is the sign of a trap. A message that counts down the hours is trying to stop you from thinking. Putting your phone down for two minutes costs nothing, and it is almost always enough.
I go through the official door
The address typed in by hand, the app installed from the official store, the phone number printed on the back of your card. Never the link someone hands you, even when it looks right.
The padlock is not enough: I read the address
The little padlock icon means the connection is encrypted, not that the site is honest. A scam site has one too. The name of the site sits just before the first forward slash: that is where to look.
Two questions to check
Nothing is graded, and nothing is saved anywhere except in your own browser.
You arrive in a public place and two Wi-Fi networks appear, with almost identical names. What do you do?
See the answer
I check the exact name with an employee or an official poster before connecting
A fake network can carry a similar name, or a strictly identical one. Checking with the place rules out the most common traps, but no name makes a public network trustworthy: nothing sensitive is done there.
You're connected to public Wi-Fi, in a place you don't know. What can you do without much risk?
See the answer
Check the timetable or the news
Banking and payment require a password or a card: on a network open to everyone, it's better to wait for a trusted connection for those kinds of actions.
I've done it
Check this box once you can do this skill on your own.
Your progress stays in your own browser.