Despite Facebook facing a heavy fine of $5 billion from the FTC over privacy issues, many users still use the platform. It’s a place where all of our friends and family are after all. So how can we visit Facebook while keeping our personal data secure? Well, your data can be safer when you follow these cybersecurity tips.
My first tip is to have a strong password. It’s an obvious one, but it’s still an issue today. For example, some of last year’s popular passwords consist of passwords like “qwerty”, “111111”, “12345”, and of course “password”. These are easy to get into and that’s the last thing you want. So do yourself a favour and make stronger passwords. One apps that can help you is LastPass. It’s free to use and can generate and store passwords for you so you don’t have to remember them. Those passwords are also locked by a master password which you’ll create and can only be accessed on your personal devices.
On the note of passwords, make sure your mobile gets a similar treatment. We use our smartphones a lot these days so if you ever lose it or your phone gets stolen, it’s harder for people to break into it if there is a passcode lock on it.
Another good tip in restriction is limiting who can see your posts. In the upper right-hand corner of every post you create, you can select who can see this post. It’s a general restriction, however you can restrict the view further by placing friends in friend lists.
If you want to feel more secure, another option is limit how many friends you add on Facebook. Make a personal rule to only add people you’ve met before or have chatted with will narrow who you accept as a Facebook friend. This will protect you from potentially accepting people who could wish you harm or also view your confidential posts (such as when you’re away from your home on vacation and no one is there…).
The tip above also applies to apps too. There are thousands of them and some of them were malicious in the past. Some users had their accounts hijacked or they were spamming other users. There are safety protocols put in place now, however it is worth looking over the apps and see what it is you are giving them access to before downloading.
The last tip is one that not many people have considered before and that’s backing up personal data. From the first day you created your Facebook account, you can grab that information. To access that information, click on “Account Settings” and look for “Download a Copy of your Facebook Data.” Why do this? Should anything happen to your account, you have better odds of recovering your account with this data.
These are some simple tips, but these are things that many overlook in their personal safety. So take these measures and you’ll feel safer while on Facebook.
