Privacy and safety of personal online accounts has been a hot topic for quite some time already. Personal data theft is possible virtually anywhere, and the society has seen it happen many times, from hacked bank accounts to leaked photos of celebrities. And, while network security experts and Internet companies are left wondering about where and how the next security breach is going to take place, there are steps users can take if not to fully alleviate but, at least, to decrease the possibility of their personal information being stolen or misused.
Facebook’s privacy options are divided into three major categories: posting privacy, friend requests privacy and profile search availability ("Facebook Help Center | Facebook", n.d.). Knowing how these options influence their public profile’s appearance users can make more informed decisions about the things they decide to share. For example, if a person has their posts visibility set to ‘public’ this means that whatever they post ends up available to everyone on the Internet, regardless of whether or not the third party are friends with the poster or even have a Facebook account altogether. If poster is unaware of this they might end up exposing some personal information which they initially intended to share only with their friends.
Among all the security features Facebook offers login alert is, perhaps, one of the most useful. If login alerts are enabled Facebook user will receive an email or a message whenever there is a suspicious login into their account. This can help prevent personal information theft provided the legitimate account owner responds quickly. In case these alerts are disabled there is a good chance that account owner will not notice that someone else is using their account until it is too late.
Knowing how security and privacy settings work on Facebook is already a good start for people who seek to protect the information they share and conversations with people they care about, and their financial data too in some cases. Big companies do care about their users’ safety but users themselves should be aware of the power and control they have too.
References:
Facebook Help Center | Facebook. Facebook.com. Retrieved 29 January 2017, from https://www.facebook.com/help/238318146535333?helpref=related
