How to stay safe on Facebook

Facebook, like any online or offline meeting place, carries with it some risks. Remember that you should apply the same common sense and safety rules as you do when you’re away from your computer. Don’t post your address, phone number or credit card details or any information that you wouldn’t share with a stranger on the street.

 

But Facebook itself has some structured safety procedures that all users should spend a bit of time getting to know.

 

 

Step 1: Go to Facebook and log in using your registered email address and password.

 

Step 2: Click the arrow in the top right-hand corner of your Facebook page. A menu of options will drop down.

 

 

Step 3: Click Account Settings. A new page will load. In the menu on the left-hand side, click on Security in the left-hand menu. This brings up the Security settings option page.

 

Step 4: Click Edit to the right of ‘Secure browsing’. In the tinted box that now appears, tick the box next to ‘Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) when possible’. Click Save Changes.

 

 

By doing this, the data you transfer when using Facebook will travel over an encrypted connection similar to the ones used by online retailers to keep your credit card information safe.

 

Step 5: If you access your Facebook account from just one home computer, you might also want to sign up for Login notifications, just beneath ‘Secure browsing’.

 

If your account is accessed by a computer or mobile device that you haven’t used before, Facebook will send you either an email, text message or in-app push alert to inform you of this. If this high-level of security would be useful, click Edit and choose your preferred alert method. Click Save Changes.

 

If, however, you’re likely to access your Facebook account from more than one computer, it’s probably advisable to leave this box unticked.

 

Step 6: Click Account again and choose Privacy Settings. This is where you choose which information you wish to share and with whom.

 

Facebook has recently simplified its Privacy settings. You can now choose how public you want each status update as you post it as well as setting your default privacy. You can now also control permissions for specific activities, apps and websites that you have logged into using your Facebook account.

 

 

If you’re likely to be sharing personal information – for instance, information that could identify where you or members of your family live – it would be advisable to set your privacy to ‘Friends’ only.

 

Step 7: To control the privacy settings on your timeline, click editing your timeline info on this page.

 

 

This will take you to a page featuring an editable version of your timeline, where you can set privacy permissions for the various types on information that appear by default, such as your ‘Basic’ and ‘Contact’ info.

 

Identity theft is always an issue on the internet. The more information you make available to everyone, the more possibilities there are for scammers to use it to defraud you. Allowing your full date of birth, maiden name or similar to show on public pages could give someone enough data to access your bank account.

 

Facebook takes safety seriously too, and runs a Family Safety Centre where you can read educational resources written specifically for parents, teachers and teens.