Is your data safe on Facebook?

[Acorn Newsbot]

Facebook – fun friendly and a great way of staying in touch. But how do you know that the way you are using Facebook is keeping your personal data safe?

Could you 100% hand-on-heart say that you have done everything to protect your private information on Facebook? How have you ensured that your account won’t get hacked and what sort of information should you really be sharing?

Don’t get hacked
Sometimes using your common sense is the best way to avoid hacking. If an application asks you to run a script which shows ‘who’s stalking you’ or which ‘exes have been viewing your profile’ you should be aware that it is likely to be a scam. These apps are just there to get your personal data, providing you with nothing in return.

In fact, any application you are unsure of is best avoided. There are many applications designed just to ignore your settings, access your personal data, and post gibberish on your behalf to friends’ walls; avoid them like the plague.

Sharing your password – really?
It seems obvious but any application within Facebook asking for your username and password will hardly have good intentions at its heart. Also anyone asking for your login details outside of the network is simply trying to gain access to your personal data.

To share or not to share?
Okay, so nobody’s going to steal your identity from the picture you posted of last night’s lasagne, butt are you guilty of sharing information on Facebook that should really be kept offline?

Bank account details, PIN numbers, payslip details, or insurance documentation; people who use Facebook to message these to others, or share any type of financial information via the site, are just asking for trouble.

Facebook location tagging
Is it really a good idea to let everyone know where you are every minute of the day? Constant reminders of your home location and holiday destinations add more risk when it comes to people using your data. Your location is in a harder-to-see grey text when you post a status update – simply click the cross to close this feature and stop Facebook from location tagging.

Read the Facebook Safety Page
Facebook has a Safety Page which reflects how people are becoming more informed and aware of issues around data protection and safety against malicious spyware. With important information about the network’s safety tools, privacy functions, and resources, this is worth taking a look at.

Disable Facebook Apps
Third party Facebook apps are unpopular with many users of the social network and for good reason. These applications can be plagued with rogue software designed as a malicious way to steal your personal data.

Simply turn off all apps under your privacy settings to ensure you not only avoid being bombarded with irrelevant nonsense, but also protect your personal data.

It’s worth remembering that your Facebook profile is an online representation of yourself. As such you need to protect the personal data you are sharing and ensure it cannot be used in a malicious, abusive manner.








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