Social networks are a great way of staying in touch with your acquaintances and also meeting new people, however, using such services is also making you vulnerable. Needless to say, people tend to share a lot of information about themselves which can be misused by the third parties. Fortunately, there are several ways in which you can keep yourself safe. We will explain you about the simplest things you can do in order to make social networks more secure.
Do not share your private information or conversations online
One of the simplest ways to protect yourself is not to share your private information online. This is true not only for social networks but also for all other services which really do not need such a type of data. For example, many people tend to fill in all of the lines of the registration forms and profiles of social networks particularly thoroughly giving their real names, addresses, mobile phones, places of work and so on. Even if you are using your account on a social network exclusively for communicating with a small group of people whom you can trust, this information can still be stolen. That is why you should be very careful about what you are sharing with world in the first place.
Some people are going even further and publish their diplomas and certificates which include a lot of personal information. Undeniably, it might be a great advantage if you are not just boasting about your achievements with others, but are trying to find future employers. Still, it is not a good idea to do it on social networks and forums.
Finally, when it comes to private conversations, it is highly recommended not to share such information online unless the conversation took place with some person or organisation whose activity is illegal or criminal and you want to make others aware of it. In all other situations you should avoid publishing such information as you will never be able to delete it from servers completely.
Two-factor authentication
The two-factor authentication technology is an additional way for protecting your profiles one social networks. One-factor authentication will require your password whenever you are logging into the system. Certainly, you should make your password as complicated as possible. Yet, sometimes it might be not enough for protecting your profile. In order to do it more effectively, you should switch to two-factor authentication.
This form of authentication goes further requiring inserting a code which you will get in an SMS or with the help of a special programme generating codes. Note that this form of additional protection is available on all popular social networks.
For example, on Facebook, you will find SMS with codes as a default form of a two-factor authentication. On Instagram, you will need to add the phone number which you want to use for getting an SMS with a code.
Beware of other websites and apps using your social network
You have certainly come across a variety of online platforms as well as apps which can be used through an account on your social network. Now, instead of creating credentials for logging into various websites it is enough to insert the logging information you are using for accessing your profile on Facebook as well as a couple of other websites. Certainly, it is convenient, however, in practice it means you are granting these websites with a possibility of getting access to your information. Needless to say, some of such websites are stealing personal information.
Many popular social networks are themselves equipped into various extensions and apps. You should be aware of the fact not all of them are safe and some can steal your personal data as well. For such apps, you can change settings on the social networks you are using blocking the access to your data.
Do not forget about the privacy settings
Each of the popular social networks has its own settings for privacy. These settings are referring to a whole variety of different options.
It is possible to set restrictions for the information on your profile, the photos and videos on which you were tagged, the list of photos you have saved, the list of the groups you are in, the list of your friends and many other information. Some of the popular options is making the information visible only for you, only for your friends, for friends as well as their friends, and, finally, to everyone.
Of course, it is up to you, which information you want to make visible on your profile, however, some of the data really requires extra protection no matter what your preferences are. It is recommended to hide such information as the list of fr8iends, the list of saved photos as well as to the information about the location on the photos.
It is also possible to use extra safety settings for the contact with you. You can make it impossible for others to leave any messages on your profile or even block the possibility of getting messages from any people who are not on the list of your friends.