Even though the Cambridge Analytica and other major privacy breaches at Facebook have made more people pay attention to how social media companies like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube use their personal data, most of us still don't pay enough attention to our digital protection.
And as useful and fun as these social media platforms can be, they can also be quite dangerous. The personal information the internet holds about us can be used to intimidate and harm us.
The good news is that there is a way to find a balance between being active on social media and protecting our privacy at the same time.
Tip 1: Google your name
This may sound simple, but the best way to find out what information about you is out there online is to search for it yourself. You'd be surprised how often you'll find old accounts on places like MySpace, LiveJournal, and Tumblr.
And because you probably created these accounts when you were more carefree and relaxed online, these sites may have kept your personal data. You never know what information about you is out there online until you look for it.
Tip 2: Check if your accounts have been hacked
Do you think you've never been a victim of hacking? You might be wrong.
Databases containing your emails, passwords, date of birth, contact number, and address are constantly circulating on the dark web. People can use this information to commit fraud.
The website hasibeenpwned.com has identified over 6 billion account breaches from popular services like LinkedIn and Adobe. If you've ever had a LinkedIn profile or used Photoshop, chances are your information has been compromised.
You can search the hasibeenpwned.com database to see if your account data has been compromised. If it has, make sure you change your passwords to stop third parties from accessing your accounts.
Tip 3: Use a password manager
Remembering all your passwords is difficult, so we often choose easy passwords, like names or dates.
But there's a big problem with simple passwords. The easier it is to remember the password, the easier it is for someone to crack it.
There's a solution to this: password managers. These apps generate strong passwords for all your different online accounts, allowing you to remember just one password, for the password manager.
Tip 4: Enable two-factor authentication
Most apps and social media platforms offer the option to enable two-factor authentication. This means that someone can't log into your account, even if they have your password, unless they have a special code sent to your phone.
You can use your phone number to enable two-factor authentication, but to do that, you have to upload it to the website in question. That means you're trusting Facebook or Twitter with your personal contact information. It's risky.
Instead you can use services like Google Authenticator or Authy, which allow you to enable two-factor authentication without compromising your phone number.
Tip 5: Remove your phone number from Facebook
Websites like Facebook ask for our contact information.
You probably didn't know that if you give your phone number to Facebook, people can find and track your Facebook profile using it unless you prevent it. Fortunately, this is easy to do.
Go to your Facebook privacy settings > Scroll down and tap on “Who can look you up using the phone number you provided?” > And make sure it is not on “Everyone”.
Tip 6: Double-check your profile picture
Choosing the right profile picture for Facebook or Instagram is difficult. We want to look beautiful. But we have to be careful.
Maybe you haven't paid much attention to what's in the background of your profile. Is it your home? Your work?
All of this information can be used to track you, find out where you live and work, and potentially harm you.
So make sure your photo does not contain any identifiable information.
Tip 7: Consider using a different name
Last but not least, consider using a different name for your online profiles. This may be annoying for your friends when they try to find you, but in reality, your privacy is more important than what your friends think.
To make it a little easier for everyone, consider keeping your first name, but using a different last name.
We hope these tips help you stay safe while using social media.
