Facebook – Being a Smart User

Let’s face it, the world has gone the way of Facebook. Most of us are on it, or at least know tons of people who use it. The point of this post is not to trash talk the service, the point of this post is just to clarify some things for people with Facebook accounts. Whether you’re a casual user, a fanatic user, or anywhere in between the two, there are a few key privacy and security aspects you should be aware of.

One really important thing that not all users know is that your information, including your photos, might be made available for use that you would not want – depending on your account settings. If you are using Facebook, you should be aware of the security and privacy options available to you and set them to whatever level you are comfortable with, keeping in mind the internet forgets nothing.

Some Security and Privacy Options:

The first thing you should know is to use a secure unique password for your Facebook login.

Second, make sure your account is set to ‘Secure Browsing (https).’ The point of the setting is to prevent people from intercepting your account while you’re signed in on an insecure wi-fi connection and start browsing your account. [You can read more about this at LifeHacker’s article “Firesheep Sniffs Out Facebook and Other User Credentials on Wi-Fi Hotspots”].

Don’t worry, in order to set your account to browse securely just follow these simple steps:

1. Once logged in, go to the “Account” option at the top right hand corner of the page
2. Scroll down and select “Account Settings”
3. You will be in the “Settings” tab
4. Scroll down and click on “Account Security”
5. The option to check off a box for “Secure Browsing (https)” will open up
6. Click on the box to activate the option
7. Finally, click on the blue “Save” button…. and it’s done!

Third, you should go through all your other security and privacy settings and make sure that your information is protected and dealt with the way you feel comfortable with.

For example, you have the option of choosing who can see photos you are tagged in:

1. Once logged in, go to the “Account” option at the top right hand corner of the page.
2. Scroll down and select “Privacy Settings”
3. Scroll down the page and select “Customize settings” written in blue
4. Scroll down to the section “Things others share,” go to the “Photos and videos I’m tagged in” option and select “Edit Settings”
5. A window will pop up
6. In the pop up window, click on the button to the right of “Who can see photos and videos I’m tagged in.”
7. You will see the menu options “Everyone, Friends of Friends, Friends Only, and Custom edit.”
8. If you click on “Custom edit,” a new window will pop up that says “Make this visible to,” and click on the option arrow to see the menu.
9. The options will be “Friends of Friends, Friends Only, Specific People, and Only Me.”
10. Choose the option that you want. For example if you want to be the only person who can see when you’re tagged in photos then choose “Only Me.”
11. Then click “Save Settings”

There are many more setting options that are available so that you can customize your account. Take a bit of time to go through them and set them to your comfort level. It might surprise you how many people have left their accounts open to public view. There’s even a website dedicated to finding all of these open pages – openbooks.