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Lesson 3 of 5Leadership, Projects and Technology
Unit 4 · Lesson 3 of 5

Digital Tools and Staying Safe Online

Digital tools make business tasks faster and easier, but each has limits, costs and risks, so choose the right tool for the job and protect your accounts and your customers' information.

5 min read1 quick check9 practice questionsInteractiveAsk AI about this →

Key things to remember

  1. 1Spreadsheets are best for budgets and numbers; a formula starts with = and updates by itself.
  2. 2Every tool has a cost: money (free, freemium, subscription, fees), time to learn, or your data.
  3. 3Use a long, unique passphrase for every account and turn on two-factor authentication.
  4. 4Phishing signs: rushing you, an odd sender, strange links, requests for passwords or codes, prizes you never entered for.
  5. 5Collect only the customer information you need, keep it private and delete it when done.
  6. 6Choose a tool by matching it to the task, then comparing cost, safety and skills needed.

Hana sells handmade keychains online and at school events. She keeps her prices in a spreadsheet, designs keychains in a design app, posts on social media, and gets paid through a payment app. Digital tools let one student run a small business that once needed a whole office. But every tool has a cost, every account can be hacked, and every customer trusts you with their information. This lesson shows how to pick good tools and use them safely.

Digital tools for business tasks

Tool typeBusiness taskExample at Hana's keychain shop
SpreadsheetBudgets, sales tracking, pricesTotals sales each week and shows which designs sell best.
Word processor (documents)Plans, letters, order formsWrites a short plan for her next craft fair.
Slide app (presentations)Pitches, reportsMakes a five-slide pitch for a school market.
Design appLogos, posters, productsDraws keychain designs and her shop logo.
Website builderAn online store or info pageBuilds a simple page that lists her keychains.
Social mediaAdvertising, talking to customersPosts new designs and answers questions.
Payment app or card readerTaking paymentsLets customers tap to pay at a school event.
Cloud storageSaving and sharing files onlineKeeps design files safe if her laptop breaks.
AI helperBrainstorming, drafting, summarizingSuggests ten names for a new keychain series.

A spreadsheet is a grid of cells that can do math for you. If cell B2 holds the price and C2 holds the number sold, the formula below finds the sales for that design. Change a number, and every total updates by itself. That is why spreadsheets are the go-to tool for budgets.

A             B       C       D
Design        Price   Sold    Sales
Cat keychain  5       40      =B2*C2   (shows 200)
Frog keychain 5       25      =B3*C3   (shows 125)
Total                         =SUM(D2:D3)   (shows 325)
Spreadsheet formulas start with an equals sign. Prices are in dollars.

Benefits, limits, costs and risks

ABenefits
  • Saves time: formulas, templates and copy-paste.
  • Reaches more customers: social media and websites work all day.
  • Fewer math errors: spreadsheets add for you.
  • Easy teamwork: shared cloud files.
BLimits and risks
  • Costs: subscriptions, fees per sale, devices and data.
  • Learning time: new tools take practice.
  • Mistakes spread: one wrong formula can break every total.
  • Security: hacked accounts, scams and leaked customer data.
  • AI helpers can be confidently wrong, so check every fact.
Cost typeWhat it meansExample
FreeNo money, but often ads, limits or your data is collected.A free design app with a watermark.
FreemiumBasic version is free; extra features cost money.Free website builder; pay to use your own web address.
SubscriptionA fee every month or year.$12 a month for a design app with more fonts.
Transaction feeA small percent of each sale goes to the payment company.A 3% fee on a $20 sale is .
Fee amounts in this table are examples only. Check the real price of any tool before you sign up.

Staying safe online

Six habits that keep a small business safe onlineStrong, uniquepasswordsLong passphrases,different for everyaccountA password managerremembers them for youTwo-factorauthenticationA code from an app ortext, as well as thepasswordTurn it on for email,banking, social mediaKeep everything updatedInstall updates forphones, laptops, apps andwebsite plug-insUpdates fix security holesSpot phishingUrgent or threatening toneSender address or linkdoesn’t matchAsks for passwords, codesor gift cardsBack up your filesKeep copies in two places,one off-site or in thecloudTest that you can restorethemProtect customer dataCollect only what you needAsk for consent andexplain whyStore it securely; deleteit when doneIn Canada, privacy law (PIPEDA) requires businesses to get consent and protect the personal information they collect.
Fig 1Online safety and data security for a small business: strong passwords, two-factor authentication, updates, spotting phishing, backups and protecting customer data.
  • Use a strong passphrase: several random words, such as "purple-canoe-pickle-winter". Long is stronger than short and tricky. Use a different one for every account, and a password manager to remember them.
  • Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA): after your password, you also enter a code from your phone. A thief with your password still cannot get in.
  • Keep apps and devices updated. Updates often fix security holes.
  • Check privacy settings: make your personal account private and keep your business account separate.
  • Never share personal details online: home address, school schedule, birth date or passwords.
  • Protect customer information: collect only what you need, keep it in a private file, never post it, and delete it when you no longer need it.
Phishing: spot the signs
Phishing is a fake message that tries to trick you into giving away a password, money or personal information. Warning signs: it rushes you ("Your account closes in 1 hour!"), the sender's address looks a bit off, it has a strange link, it asks for your password or a code, or it offers a prize you never entered for. Do not click. Go to the real app or website yourself to check.
VideoFrom the Government of Canada's Get Cyber Safe campaign: watch for how to make a password or passphrase that is long, unique and hard to guess.Watch on YouTube

Choosing the right tool

  1. Name the task clearly: "track weekly sales" or "take card payments at a market".
  2. List what the tool must do and what would just be nice.
  3. Compare cost: free, freemium, subscription or fees per sale.
  4. Check safety and privacy: does it offer 2FA? What does it do with customer data?
  5. Think about skills: can you learn it in time?
  6. Try the free version first, then decide.
Loading interactive…
Give each tool option a score on criteria such as cost, safety and ease of use, add weights for what matters most, and see which tool wins.
Quick checkTry it before you read on
1
Which passphrase is strongest?

Worked examples

Reveal one step at a time and try to beat it to the next line.

Example 1
Hana wants to track how many of each keychain she sells every week and see her total sales. Which tool should she use?
Example 2
Hana gets this message: "URGENT from PayApp Support: your account will be locked in 1 hour. Click here and enter your password and the code we text you." Is it safe?
Example 3
Hana takes pre-orders with an online form. What customer information should she collect, and how should she protect it?

Where marks get lost

  • Using the same password everywhere. If one site is hacked, every account is open.
  • Believing a tool is free when it shows ads, limits features or collects your data. There is almost always some cost.
  • Copying an AI helper's answer without checking it. AI tools can make up facts that sound true.
  • Posting a photo of an order list that shows customers' names and emails.
  • Clicking a link in an urgent message instead of opening the real app yourself to check.

Flashcards 8

Spreadsheet
Freemium
Transaction fee
Passphrase
+ 4 more

Practice

1
Match each business task to the best tool.
Track a monthly budget
Design a logo
Take payments at a craft fair
Back up important files
2
What does two-factor authentication do?
3
Which is NOT a common sign of phishing?
4
A payment app charges a 3% fee on each sale. Hana sells $250 of keychains through it in a month. How much is the fee? Give your answer to the nearest cent.
$
5
In a spreadsheet, B2 holds a price of $4 and C2 holds 35 sold. What does the formula =B2*C2 show, in dollars?
$
6
What is the name for a fake email or text that tries to trick you into giving away your password?
7
Hana's customer order list has names and emails. What should she do with it?
8
Put these steps for choosing a tool in order.
  1. 1List what the tool must do
  2. 2Try the free version, then decide
  3. 3Compare cost, safety and skills needed
  4. 4Name the task
9
An AI helper writes a product description that says Hana's keychains are "unbreakable for 10 years". What should she do?

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