We share a lot of personal info on our social media accounts that it becomes a good idea to go beyond passive in making sure that your privacy settings are all set up. This is to ensure that only your trusted circle can see your full profile in Facebook. Se here are some tips to ensure that you get the most out of your privacy settings calibration, and how you can avoid the popular scams that come up on Facebook:
The fist thing you need to take note is avoiding ticking the 'keep me logged in' option when you log in on Facebook using a shared PC. If you are asked if you want to save the browser, only click YES if you use that device often. If not, hit NO so you will be alerted if someone tries to login to your Facebook account using that PC.
Also, Facebook made a few changes to make sure you access the privacy settings easily. To view these settings, click on the padlock icon on the top right of your Facebook desktop so you can see a dropdown list of the privacy settings you can tweak.
First, there is the 'Who can see my future posts' settings. This is where you can customize the viewers of your posts to: Friends, Public, Only Me, or Custom.
Then, there is the 'who can contact me' settings. Choose 'Basic Filtering' so people on your friends list and people you may know can contact you. Choose 'Strict Filtering' if you want to receive messages from your friends alone, you may miss messages from other people if you choose this option.
Next, decide whether you want everyone to be able to send you a friend request, or just the people who are friends with your friends.
You can also change the settings as to who can look you up using your email address or phone number, and you can also enable or disable the settings that allow search engines to link to your profile.
Another thing to keep in mind when using Facebook desktop is the address bar. If it says "https://facebook.com" then it's secure, but if it just starts with a "https://", you would need to go the the settings page and hit the Security tab on the left side and enable the 'Secure Browsing' option. While your in the settings page, make sure that you also enable the 'Login Notifications' option so you can get an email or SMS if someone accessed your account from an unfamiliar device.
If you think you're too prone to account hacking, enable the 'login approval' option as well. This will allow for a login approval to be sent to your phone. Only when you approve it, can anyone start using your account.
Facebook Apps Access
Also, when using websites and apps, they may let you sign up using Facebook. This means that these developers can access your profile. But you can always limit what they can access, just make sure that you read the access page really well before hitting 'OK'. If you want to rethink the access you gave to all your previous apps, just go to the Settings page and click 'Apps' on the left. Right there, you can change each of their settings or remove them completely.
Facebook Scams
Furthermore, Facebook scams are everywhere, so beware. These kinds of scams pretend to be some sort of shocking videos or news that your friends have posted. Clicking on them can allow the developers of these scams to post the said video on your account on your behalf. So be extra careful in clicking things on Facebook. Unless it is a real video uploaded on Facebook with no need to redirect to an unfamiliar website, do not click it.
How To Avoid Losing Access To Your Facebook Account
You can choose a trusted contact so this person can access your account on your behalf in case you lose access to your own Facebook. Just go to the security settings and choose a specific contact.
