More often than not, when you’re faced with reading an end-user agreement, terms of service, or a Privacy policy, you probably just agree with it and move on.  Despite the risks, many people don’t have time or inclination to figure out complex policies and settings on their own.  A person will install an app or join a social media site, and simply accept whatever agreement appears on the screen.  It won’t be until a problem occurs that you’ll wonder what you agreed to and how you’re protected.

Is it their fault?  Not completely.  It should come as no surprise that social media sites are designed to be social.  They want you and others to engage one another, so it follows suit that the default settings are designed to share information with others.   This means that a good portion of the information you provide (likes, dislikes, comments, posts, photos, online activity, etc.) is public.  If you don’t want to share facts, photos and certain other details about yourself, its up to you to change the privacy and security settings on your account.

Privacy Basics

Over the years, a common complaint about Facebook has been how it addresses privacy.  The privacy policy, which FB calls a Data Policy, is lengthy and has been at times difficult to read.  In an effort to simply it and make it easier to understand, and train users on how to configure settings, Facebook has created a new site called Privacy Basics.

When you visit a site, there is a link to their updated Data Policy, which is presented in an easy-to-use format.  Links on the side of the page take you to specific information on the kinds of information Facebook collects, what they use it for, and how its shared.  Facebook also explains how they respond to legal requests, how their global systems operate, and how they’ll notify you of changes to their policy.  In addition to this, there is also information on how to manage and delete information about you, and how to contact Facebook with questions.

Training Tools

In addition to explanation of their policies, Facebook provides interactive training on how to configure your settings or use a feature.  When you first visit Privacy Basics, you’ll see three links on the main page that are used to break up the tutorials into different sections:

1. What Others See About You, which provides step-by-step instructions on who can see your posts and photos, how to delete posts, and the visibility of your profile, friends list,  likes, comments, tagged photos, and search results to others.  There is also information on how to deactivate and delete an account.
2. How Others Interact With You, which explains how to manage what others post on your timeline, who can like and comment on posts, untagging yourself from a photo, unfriending or blocking people, and what to do if your account’s been hacked.
3. What You See, which explains how to change the ads you see, and what shows up in your newsfeed.

When clicking on a topic, you’re presented with a interactive walkthrough that takes you step-by-step through the process of performing a specific action.  For example, if you click on a link related to deleting a post, you’re presented with the image of Facebook’s user interface and shown how to delete posts.

Where the Training Falls Short

While its definately worthwhile, Privacy Basics falls short, and is primarily geared to an audience of smartphone users.  Most of the interactive training focuses on those using Facebook with a smartphone (i.e. the Facebook app).  If you visit Facebook using a computer, don’t expect much help from these tutorials.

Another important point to remember that these are ONLY tutorials.  Using the step-by-step process on the Privacy Basics site will not change any actual settings on your account.

Privacy Checkup

In September 2014, Facebook introduced another tool to help customers change their Privacy Settings, which is called the Privacy Checkup.  It’s designed to walk you through privacy settings by breaking down the configuration into “three quick steps”

If you haven’t used the tool, you might feel a little patronized by the Barney-like blue dinosaur serving as the tool’s mascot.  It is after all an odd choice when you consider how children aren’t allowed to have Facebook accounts.  Their policy prohibits anyone under the age of 13 from having an account (not that the rule actually stops a kid from creating one).  This isn’t to say that the tool isn’t useful, but c’mon!  Really?  They couldn’t think of something more cutting edge than a dinosaur?

To use the Privacy Checkup tool, do the following:

1. After logging onto Facebook, click on the Privacy Shortcuts icon (which looks like a padlock) on the top navigation bar
2. Click on the link (shown at the right)
3. When the screen appears, the Your Posts step will be open, allowing you to set who can see your posts.  Select who you want to view your posts, and click the Next Step button
4. When the Your Apps section opens, scroll through the listing of apps you’ve installed, and select which ones you want to delete (by clicking the “X” beside the app’s name) or change who can see posts from the app by clicking the dropdown beside each app’s name.
5. After clicking the Next Step button, the Your Profile step will expand allowing you to select who can see certain information.  By clicking on a dropdown list beside areas like your Email, Birthday, Relationship status and what you’re Interested in, you can choose who will these facts about your personal life.
6. After completing these changes, click the Finish Up! button to save the settings.

In using this tool, remember that the changes you make are actually modifying your account.  This isn’t like the Privacy Basics tutorial where you simply learn how to make the changes.  Here, you’re actually configuring your privacy settings.

Coming Soon

In the near future, we’ll discuss a number of other tools and features on Facebook that can help secure your account, as well as resources available from their site and 3rd party sources.

Interested in learning more about social media security? Copies of Social Media Security: Leveraging Social Networking can be purchased from your local bookstore, or online book retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo or the Elsevier Store