While social networking sites are great for keeping in touch and making new friends, they’re also a boon for anyone looking to harvest people’s personal information. Sharing too much information on social media, however, may leave you at risk of identity theft, a cyber-attack, or even physical assault.
If you are looking to improve your social media privacy and security, consider some of these helpful tips:
- Use a strong password. The longer your password, the better. It should include both upper and lower-case letters, numbers and keyboard symbols. Never use your name or birthday, or other easy-to-guess passwords.
- Use a different password for each of your social media accounts. You could go one step further and create a separate email account to use with each social network.
- Set up your security questions and answers and enable two-factor authentication for better security.
- If you have social media apps on your phone, be sure to protect your device with a strong password.
- Be selective with friend requests. Only connect with people you know in real life or whose identity you know is genuine. Fraudsters are known to parody with fake accounts and IDs.
- Click links with caution. Social media accounts are regularly hacked. Look out for language or content that does not sound like something your friend would post.
- Be careful about what you share. Don’t reveal sensitive personal information i.e.home address, financial information, phone number. The more you post the easier it is to have your identity stolen or be tracked by malicious people.
- Become familiar with the privacy policies of the social media sites you use. Read the site’s privacy policy and use its privacy and security settings to control who can see your personal information and your posts.
- Protect your computer by installing antivirus software for improved security. Ensure that your browser, operating system, and software are kept up to date.
- Always log out of your account when you are done. Avoid accessing your personal accounts online when using public computers and public networks.
