We know privacy is personal and in order to help you make the right privacy decisions, Facebook has updated its Privacy Checkup tool. Ahead of the Data Privacy Day observed on January 28th, here are a few tips to help you strengthen your Facebook account security, control who can see what you share and how your information is used.
1. Who can see what you share
Things like choosing who can see certain information on your profile, like your phone number, email, birthday and relationship status is something you can easily control under the revamped Privacy Checkup tool. You can also update who can see your future and past posts and also review who you’ve blocked on Facebook, for example, you can add people to your blocked list.
2. How to keep your account secure
In order to keep your account secure, the first step is to update your password to a stronger one. Some key points to keep in mind when creating a new password is that your Facebook password should be different than the passwords you use to log into other accounts, like your email or bank account.
Longer passwords are usually more secure. And try not to create a password that is your email, phone number or birthday.
Another step for account security is to turn on alerts to help let you know if someone logs into your account from a place Facebook doesn’t recognize.
3. How people can find you on Facebook
This section under the Privacy Checkup tool lets you review ways in which people can look you up on Facebook and who can send you friend requests.
4. Control the data that apps and websites share
With an average person using a smartphone having more than 80 apps and using about 40 of them every month, it can be really difficult for you to keep track of who has information about you and what it’s used for. To help shed more light on these practices that are common yet not always well understood, Facebook has introduced Off-Facebook Activity that lets you see a summary of the apps and websites that sends Facebook information about your activity, and clear this information from your account if you want to. This is another way to give people more transparency and control on Facebook.
