Today in Canada we’re seeing cannabis dispensaries pop up everywhere.First Vancouver, then Toronto and now online. Most commonly product selection, product quality and price are probably your biggest drivers for picking one over the other. On the other hand, when it comes to the internet and site security, one decision should come before all. The security of your personal data (your information). This is not something you want to leave up to chance. Many measures must be taken for sites security there is no opportunities for hackers to compromise your personal data. There are many websites that do not incorporate the necessary measures for site security and some with no security implemented at all. That’s a big no­ no!

Understanding the importance of this, we have outlined a few key and important points that help you verify the level of security from one online option to the next and ensure your personal information is not at risk. We’re sharing this info to protect you from the many sites that do not value your security due to negligence or ignorance.

1) HTTPS

This security step should be done by any site that is focused on commerce and one of the easiest security strategies to point out. Have you ever noticed the little lock icon in your browser’s URL address bar? This is showing you that the site is HTTPS secure. If your online dispensary has not done this you can more or less be certain they have done nothing for your security as this is the most basic step in online security. Here at WhitePlam we use SUCURI, a leader in the field of online security. Go ahead and click on the little lock to see what kind of information you see.

2) ENCRYPTED COMMUNICATION

Ensure your communication with the online vendor is on an encrypted email provider. This communication is personal and you would hate for any of this information to be exposed. How to know if your website is doing this:

a) You can ask them straight up

b) There should be some information on the signature of the email. Here at WhitePalm we have gone with the global leader in encryption SOPHOS and all of our data is stored on our own server to protect your information.

3) PURGING DATA

Purging data means that any information kept online is removed and stored externally so that access is limited to the company and nobody else. A lot sites keep your data on a local server and that is really unnecessary.

How to find out: you can simply take a look in their “help” section OR they should have security section and this should be a part of the process. Here at WhitePalm we purge our data every month to ensure your safety.

4) AUTHENTIC SECURITY BADGES

Today, we see way too many security badges trying to tell us the site is secure, encrypted, safe, etc. but in reality, a site can easy google an icon image that they want and photoshop it into the design of any page. So, all those badges actually mean nothing in most cases. If installed properly they should be clickable and open a popup to give you information on the site, such as when the site was last scanned for possible leaks. You can easily click on the SUCURI badge in the footer of our site to see how this works. While many of us feel more comfortable with a storefront in your community and real life interaction with a person, the reality is that many of these establishments have your information at more risk than online, as they rely on hard copy personal information and may not have proper security protocol in place.

Be healthy and be safe. We hope these tips help you make the best decision

for YOUR needs. Please feel free to ask us any questions you might have.