Part 1 – 4: Terms and Definitions for Shoulder Surfing
| Term | Definition |
| Shoulder Surfing | Gaining information through observation such as looking over a shoulder |
| Privacy Filter | Filter that prevents prying eyes from seeing every detail of information from your screen |
It might be ideal to go down the road to a local coffee shop or sit in a park while doing some work or trying to get business taken care of. But most often then none is the prying eyes of others looking over your shoulder or being able to see everything you do in plain sight, also called Shoulder Surfing. This does not always happen to users on laptops, it can be when you are looking on your smart phone or trying to take out cash from an ATM. Simply looking over the should of someone can easily be done and the user can gather decent amount of information of what you are doing in minutes. On the other hand, just because you are in an office with windows does not mean a person in a nearby building cannot see your screen using binoculars.
Common ways to prevent Shoulder Surfing
- Be aware of your surroundings and who might be able to see what you are doing
- Utilize Privacy Filters that block visibility from any side of the screen unless you are sitting directly in front of the screen. These filters are common for laptop users.
- In office setups, do not have your screen facing a window or a door.