22 Sep 2021

General privacy tips for using social networks

  • Become familiar with the privacy settings available on any social network you use, and review your privacy settings frequently. On Facebook, for example, you may want to make sure that your default privacy setting is “Friends Only”. Alternatively, use the “Custom” setting and configure the setting to achieve maximum privacy.
  • Be careful sharing your birthday, age, or place of birth. This information could be useful to identity thieves and to data mining companies. If you do consider posting your birthday, age or place of birth, restrict who has access to this information using the site’s privacy settings.
  • Try to stay aware of changes to a social network’s terms of service and privacy policy. Consider subscribing to an RSS feed  to track changes in website policies (which covers some, but not all social networks).
  • Use caution when using third-party applications. For the highest level of safety and privacy, avoid them completely. If you consider using one, review the privacy policy and terms of service for the application.
  • If you receive a connection request from a stranger, the safest thing to do is to reject the request. If you decide to accept the request, use privacy settings to limit what information is viewable to the stranger and be cautious of posting personal information to your account, such as your current location as well as personally identifiable information.
  • Take additional precautions if you are the victim of stalking, harassment or domestic violence.
  • Consider pruning your “friends” list on a regular basis. It’s easy to forget who you’ve connected to over time, and therefore who you are sharing information with.
  • Log off from social networking sites when you no longer need to be connected.