Data roaming – The invisible danger
Who isn’t used to it – the last holidays are over and you have already paid the costs. All costs? Probably not, in most cases, you’ll find the bill of your mobile phone provider in your mailbox, weeks after your holiday. Then you have to expect additional costs in the high two-digit range.
How can you overcome this phenomenon? We have the best tips for you to keep the hidden costs as low as possible.
Don’t start saving money only when you are on holiday
Even before you travel, you have the possibility to save money and that doesn’t even have anything to do with data roaming. Turn off your wireless router. It won’t be needed anyway for the next few days and you won’t have to worry about energy costs, even if they’re low. Moreover, nobody will be able to misuse your router. The hidden danger of someone logging into your Wifi and accessing sensitive data is greater than you think. If your wifi is switched off, the network is not vulnerable and all private data is safe from external attacks.
You should also consider roaming fees abroad before you go on holiday. If you’re not sure, just ask your mobile operator directly. They will tell you the prices of the respective country.
Has data roaming been free in the EU since 15.06.2017?
Yes, that’s true. This topic has been discussed in the EU Parliament since 2011. It was finally implemented on 15.06.2017. The roaming charges for your holiday within one of the 28 EU member states are no longer applicable. This does not only apply for phoning and SMS roaming, but also for Internet roaming. Please note that if you are abroad in the EU for a longer period of time and use data roaming, you may be charged a surcharge. However, you don’t have to worry about a normal holiday.
Liechtenstein, Iceland, and Norway have also joined the EU’s roaming regulations. This means that you can surf the internet at the same rate as in Germany. It remains to be seen how the arrangement with Great Britain will continue. Depending on the outcome of the Brexit calls, you may have to pay separate fees again.
Beware of public Wifi hotspots
Most of you will have noticed that there are considerably more public Wifi hotspots abroad than in Germany. These are usually free of charge. This is simply due to the legal situation of the respective country. The less legal risk the operator bears, the more likely he is to offer a freely accessible Wifi. Things are not as easy as in Germany. You will only find a few providers of free Wifi here.
No matter how amazing the whole thing seems to be, you have to be careful. Often these networks are not well secured and the data traffic can easily be tapped by unauthorized persons. Consequently, you should better handle your banking transactions and the like before you go on holiday or use the mobile data on your end device for such transactions.
Avoid holiday photos on social media
You want to share your holiday experience with all your friends and can’t wait to put the pictures online? We strongly advise against this. A new scam of fraudsters and burglars is to browse social media accounts to find out who is currently away from home.
We recommend sending a conventional holiday card. Or even better, use our Postcard App to create your own personal greeting card. This will only be sent to certain recipients and thieves will not have access to it.
