Staying Safe Whilst Working in a Public Place

With free Wi-Fi offered in so many places these days, you have many more locations to work from besides the regular office or your home office, which can be great for a productivity-boosting change of pace. In most cases, you have access to a steady stream of coffee and snacks and can tap into the energy of a bunch of strangers all tapping away on their laptops together. But there are challenges and etiquette considerations to take into account as well. Here’s what you need to know about working from Starbucks or another coffee shop or any public Wi-Fi location.

Don’t leave your laptop bag, laptop, purse, or other important belonging on the table or chair to hold your place. Maybe it’s the environment, but people tend to let their guard down at a cafe. Just don’t.

Many people also don’t realise when they’re working at a coffee shop that it’s easy for others to see what’s on their screens and what they’re typing. Not to make you paranoid, but beware of “shoulder surfing.” If possible, position yourself so your screen is facing a wall and be vigilant when entering in sensitive information or if you have confidential stuff on your screen–you never know.

Wireless Security: Whilst it’s great to have access to free WiFi, consider tethering your phone instead. In most cases your 4G and 5G connection will be faster than the coffee shop and there’s virtually no chance your data benig stolen by “hackers” in the vicinity. Where it’s not possible (or practical) consider logging onto a VPN connection BEFORE loading up your work stuff ProtonVPN offer a free tier for occasional use and their paid for packages are good value too.