Everything You Need To Know About Facebook Privacy And Security
Facebook has become the most ubiquitous social media platform in the present world. With almost 2 billion active users, the platform has become the Holy Grail for advertisers and social media analysts alike.
It is no wonder that protecting your privacy on such a diverse platform is of paramount importance. There are numerous onlookers, hackers, cybercriminals, and all sorts of agencies that constantly keep an eye on one’s Facebook profile for relevant information.
In fact, the social media giant itself has built-in algorithms that allow it to track down a person’s exact location along with what he/she does. Although it is meant to deliver the most appropriate content according to what the user wants, it is however, quite dangerous to be constantly watched.
Hence, here you will find some very useful tips as to how you can protect your privacy using the most common tools at your disposal.
Having a secure password
Many users tend to have a simple password for their Facebook account as they underestimate the reach of Facebook. Nevertheless, the very first step to security is to have a strong password that is hard to crack.
In order to do so, it is vital that you create a password that is not too easy to guess. Avoid using your date of birth or your name in the password and include more random numbers along with symbols to make it stronger.
Furthermore, simply having a complicated password is not enough. You should change it every now and then in order to ensure better security. Perhaps, changing it every month is the best practice to follow.
Use the third-party viewing tool to verify people can see
The good thing about Facebook is that it allows you to view your profile from the perspective of a stranger. That is, you can view your profile as if someone else is trying to view it and therefore determine what can be seen on your profile.
You can do so by clicking on the padlock icon on the menu bar and then clicking on “Who can see my stuff?” The “View As” option will then appear. Click it and you can see what the general public can view in your profile.
Hide your email addresses
In the current environment, anyone with an email address of your Facebook account can easily hack into your account. There are a number of ways that this can be done through Facebook itself and various hacking tools exist that can facilitate the process.
As such, it is highly recommended that one hides one’s email address so that it cannot be seen by anyone.
Turning off advertisements linked to your account
As mentioned earlier, Facebook is the Holy Grail for advertisers as they can access a significant amount of audience without spending much. This implies that if you have turned on targeted advertising for your account, you can be the subject of a number of irrelevant adverts.
Not only this, but advertisers can use all sorts of unscrupulous means to promote their products or services. This also includes phishing scams and spamming.
You can change the targeted advertisements setting by going to the Settings menu and then clicking on the Adverts tab. From there, you can change the way you want advertisements to appear.
Turn off search engine indexing
When you are on Facebook, people can search you up just by typing your name on various search engines such as Google. This makes it incredibly easy for people to look you up and can possibly mean that your potential employer might see things that were not supposed to be seen.
It goes without saying then that opting out from appearing on the search engine results page is a viable option. You can do so by simply going to the Settings tab and then clicking on “Privacy”. Go to the “Who can look me up?” section and then click the “Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?”. Uncheck the box that appears below.
Do not accept friend requests from strangers
With such a large audience, it is likely that you will be getting friend requests from total strangers who may be spammers in disguise. Not to mention that there are a good number of hackers who may simply be looking to hack an account.
In any case, it is recommended that you avoid accepting friend requests from strangers as this can jeopardize your privacy extensively.
It is also recommended that you remove friends from your friends list with whom you have never talked or those whom you have not met in person.
Restrict Facebook from accessing your WhatsApp contacts
With the social media giant gobbling up every other chat platform, Facebook is growing at an exponential pace having access to each and every type of information that you share.
One such example is WhatsApp. After acquiring WhatsApp, Facebook now has access to all the contacts that you have on your WhatsApp account. It is no wonder that one sees familiar faces in the “Friends you may know” section of Facebook.
These friends are more likely to be professional contacts on your WhatsApp account.
However, to your relief, you can control whether or not you want Facebook to have such access. That is, you can disable WhatsApp from giving your contact info to Facebook.
You can do so by simply going to Settings in WhatsApp and then tapping on the “Share my account info” option. Turn it to “Don’t share” and all your information will be protected.
Using a different browser for accessing Facebook altogether
Many of us may not be aware of this, but Facebook can track your activity on the internet. It is no wonder that you see familiar ads on Facebook that are related to the things you search on Google.
In order to avoid this, you can simply use another browser to access Facebook. If you wish to use the same browser for accessing Facebook and surfing the net, it is advisable that you sign out of Facebook while you do so. This way, Facebook will not be able to track you down.
Stop accessing Facebook on smart devices
We all know how tempting it is to access Facebook on your beautiful looking smartphones. This can, however be dangerous as apps on your smartphone can be insecure and lack the required security protocols.
Hence, it is recommended to avoid using Facebook on your mobile and only access it through the safe HTTPS web portal on your PC browser. This not only goes applies to Facebook but to all other social media sites that can track your activities.
The best way is to limit social media use
In the present world, things are getting overly complicated and integrated in terms of technology. Although it may seem very trendy to be on each and every social media site, it is however, best to limit the use of such websites.
Every day, there are hackers, advertisers, spammers who are on the lookout of their next victim. And no matter how strict your privacy settings are, there are always loopholes that can be easily exploited.
Therefore, the best way to avoid any accidents is to stop having each aspect of our lives on social media.
Rachael Chapman
A Complete gamer and a Tech Geek. Brings out all her thoughts and love in writing blogs on IOT, software, technology etc
