Recently I mentioned that 2016 was a leap year.

 If I haven't got the settings right you might get some messages of February 29 saying that it is my birthday. Those really know me know that my birthday is not on February 29.

The reason?

I have never knowingly put my actual birth date anywhere public on the Internet.

I picked a (significant ) leap year so that silly reminders of my 'birthday' would only happen once every four years.

More importantly, the two most important bits of data are your birthdate and mother's maiden name. With those two bits of information your personal data security is at significant risk.

I think anyone must be mad to put their real birthday anywhere but on the most encrypted sites on the Internet. Publishing them on social sites is a risky endeavour.

I bet you have a shredder to destroy paperwork before it goes into the recycle bin.

The chances of someone raiding your bins to find out information is infinitely more unlikely and difficult than the ease of accessing data on the Internet.

Unfortunately, like a tattoo, once on, almost impossible to remove.