Tips to Protect Your Personal Information on Social Media

The social media platforms allow you to stay in touch with your friends and family. However, they are also a goldmine of information for cybercriminals. Hackers can steal your identity and compromise your accounts using every photo, status update, or check-in. You don’t have to delete your online profile, but be careful what you post and how you protect it. It’s easier than you think to secure your digital footprint. You can start by making a few small changes in your daily routine.

Why Protecting Your Information Matters

You may not realize how valuable your personal information is. Cybercriminals use seemingly insignificant information like your birthday, a pet’s name, or a high school mascot as answers to security questions, bypassing login protections for your email or banking accounts. Unauthorized access can cause reputational damage and harassment in addition to financial theft. Protecting information on social networks is the best way to protect yourself from identity theft. It also ensures your private life stays that.

Review Your Privacy Settings Regularly

Social media platforms regularly update their privacy policies and interface, resetting preferences that are more beneficial to advertisers than your own security. At least every few months, you should check the privacy section in every app that you use. You should look for settings that restrict the visibility of posts to “friends” only, rather than “public.” Furthermore, you should limit who can search you using your phone number or email address to send you friend requests. By controlling these settings, you can ensure that only those people who are familiar with your profile and whom you trust will be able to see it.

Remember to Be Careful What You Share

Oversharing on social media is one of the greatest security risks. Avoid posting photos that contain sensitive documents such as driver’s licenses, passports, or boarding cards, since the barcodes can hide personal information. Be wary of quizzes that ask you for personal details such as your mother’s maiden or street name. These are security questions that banks and other secure websites use. Posting real-time updates on your vacation plans also signals to potential burglars your home’s empty status. Posting your travel photos is safer after you return home.

Use Strong, Unique Passwords

It is dangerous to use the same password on multiple websites. Hackers will try the same password they cracked on a low-security forum to access your email and social media accounts. For each account, you should create complex passwords with a combination of letters, symbols, and numbers. You should use a password manager to help you remember dozens of codes. This tool creates and stores strong, unique passwords. It ensures that a security breach on one platform won’t affect your entire digital life.

Enable Two-Factor Authentication

The two-factor authentication is a crucial layer of security, which goes beyond a simple password. This feature requires that a platform ask for a second verification, such as a code generated by an app or sent to your phone, before giving you access to your account. Even if hackers manage to steal your password, they will still be unable to access your account without the physical device. This setting should be enabled on all social media platforms that offer it.

Phishing Scams: Beware

Phishing attempts on social media are rife. They’re designed to trick users into giving up their login credentials. They often appear to be urgent messages from the platform’s support team, claiming that your account will not be allowed unless you click on a link. Or they may look like strange direct messages sent by friends who were hacked. Be sure to check the URL of any link before you click it. Also, be wary of generic messages that do not include your name. You should contact your friend to confirm that they sent the message if you receive an untrustworthy one.

Watch Your Accounts for Suspicious Activities

You can view the history of your social media account access on most platforms. Examine your “login activities” or “active session” on the settings menu periodically to make sure no unknown devices are logged into your account. You must immediately log out and change your password if you see an unauthorized login. This session could be from a place you’ve never been to or a device that you don’t own. You can prevent damage by keeping an eye on these activities.

Take Control of Your Digital Safety

It is not necessary to have a complex or technical process in order to secure your social media account. You can reduce your risk of becoming a target by being aware of what you share and using the security features that are already available on these platforms. Implement these changes now to have a more secure and private online experience.

FAQs

1. How often should you change your social media passwords?

Security experts suggest changing your passwords at least every three to six months. If you are aware of a data breach affecting a platform that you use, it is important to change your password as soon as possible.

2. Can I use “Sign In with Facebook” and “Sign In with Google” to sign in on other websites?

Social logins are convenient, but they also link your accounts. Hackers can gain access to all the third-party sites you visited with your social media login if they compromise your main account. In general, it is safer to create separate accounts for each service.

3. Can hackers still find deleted posts?

It is true that nothing has been deleted. You may not have removed the content, but the search engines cached it or someone took a screenshot. It is important to be careful before you post anything.

4. What should I do when my account has been hacked?

Try to reset your account password immediately using your phone number or email. If you are unable to access your account, please report the hack through the platform’s official help center.

5. What is the real meaning of private messages?

While the public cannot view private messages, the platform can access them and subpoena them. If the account of the recipient is compromised, then your private message becomes exposed.