“How to Keep Your Social Media Activity Private: A Comprehensive Guide”

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Why Keep Your Social Media Activity Private?

There are numerous reasons to maintain privacy on social media. You might prefer sharing your thoughts and photos only with people you know. Alternatively, you may want to use stricter privacy settings to prevent burglars, stalkers, cybercriminals, and others from learning about you and your whereabouts.

Tips for Managing Your Social Media Privacy Settings

While specific options and settings vary across platforms, here are nine general tips to help you manage your social media privacy settings effectively. These tips can serve as a starting point for staying safe and protecting your privacy online.

1. Review Your Current Privacy Settings

Log into your accounts to review your current privacy settings. The National Cybersecurity Alliance provides links to the privacy settings pages for popular services and apps, including email, health, dating, food delivery, mobile banking, e-commerce platforms, and social media sites.

2. Check Who Can See Your Posts

Review who can see your posts or other interactions (likes, shares, etc.) on the platform, and whether those posts are visible in search results. Generally, you can choose between public or private settings, and some platforms offer more nuanced choices.

3. Check What Others See on Your Profile

Review what information people who you aren’t connected to can see when they visit your profile. Even if your profile is set to private, you may want to further review what information gets shared with strangers, such as your location, employer, and list of connections. You may also be able to limit who can send you connection requests and how people can find you online.

4. Update Your Friend List

If you’re limiting who can see your posts and profile, take a few minutes to review who you’ve connected with on each platform. If your “friends” aren’t people you’ve actually met or know, it might make sense to unfriend them so they won’t be able to see what you share. Facebook also has a custom audience option, which lets you create lists of people and then share posts exclusively with that group.

5. Restrict Access From Third-Party Apps

You might have used a social media profile to log into a different account or given another company limited access to your profile when entering a contest or playing a game. While linking third-party apps to your social media profiles can be helpful, you may want to review the current connections and revoke access to apps you no longer use.

6. Scrutinize Your Location-Sharing Settings

Social media platforms might collect information about your location and use this to target ads and other suggestions. If you’d prefer not to share this information, look into how you can restrict location sharing. You may need to update the location sharing settings on your phone or in the social media site’s mobile app rather than the website.

7. Consider What’s in Your Profile and What You Share

Review what you include in your profile and either delete or add fake information. For example, listing your high school might help you connect with old friends, but it also makes it easy for someone to figure out who your high school mascot was—which could be a “secret” answer that allows them to access or reset the password on one of your other accounts. Be cautious about what you share, both in your posts and in response to other people’s posts or trivia games.

8. Add a Calendar Reminder to Review Your Settings Again

Companies may periodically update their privacy settings, making managing your privacy settings an ongoing responsibility. Your preferences may also change over time, so ensure your privacy settings reflect that. A calendar invite to check in every six months or year could help you establish a good routine.

9. Read Each Site’s Privacy Policy

The privacy settings you choose can limit who can access your profile and see your posts, but the company that runs the service might still be able to see everything. Plus, it might collect additional information about you and how you use the service. Review the social media platform’s privacy policy to better understand what the company collects and how it uses your information.

The Bottom Line

Reviewing your social media accounts’ privacy settings is crucial for keeping your private information secure. However, there are other steps you can take to limit what others can learn about you online and protect yourself from bad actors. Consider using a free personal privacy scan and dark web scan to see what information others can learn about you without turning to social media.

Learn More About Staying Safe Online

• How to Protect Your Social Media Accounts From Scammers
• 7 Ways to Protect Your Kids on Social Media
• What Personal Information Can Be Used to Commit Identity Theft?

For any mortgage service needs, call O1ne Mortgage at 213-732-3074. We are here to assist you with the best mortgage solutions tailored to your needs.

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