Use Facebook Freely But With Strings Attached

If you don’t have a Facebook account, you’re completely in the dark about what your family and friends are experiencing in their daily life.  You’re not aware of what they may have eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Well maybe not that information.  Also, vacation pictures are aplenty and are being shared daily, weekly, monthly on a Facebook members Timeline.  A quick search will find a group for every one of your interests and those that you’re clueless about.  Every media outlet has a Facebook page.  Hit the Like button to follow any of them and a stream of news articles flood your Facebook Timeline page several times a day. 

A couple years ago, personality questionnaires started popping up all over Facebook.  Friends and group members alike posted the results in amusement.  Apps and games and ads crawl all over Facebook and tempt its users to just click once to see what’s behind the shiny objects.  Whenever one of those games or apps are installed on your smartphone, tablet or laptop, you are asked to share your Facebook information with the App.  Most users freely accept.  Just know that nothing is free.  Yes, the download is free but know that your privacy, personal information is also free to the app developer.  Not only is your information being shared but your Facebook friends’ information may be shared as well.  After that share, every click you make is being tracked by your new friend.  

Spam - do you know what the terminology Spam means?  Nooo, not that delectable canned cooked meat.  It's where the same message is sent indiscriminately to large number of recipients on the internet.  Spam is like a hornet’s nest on Facebook.  You know those cute psychedelic pictures that display bouncing hearts or movement memes?  More than likely someone has placed one in your Facebook Messenger at one time or another. Those cutesy things may carry a virus.  Some of these movements may be linked to a massive Facebook data breach.

Now Facebook has finally gone public about this massive data breach.  The New York Times and The Guardian revealed that London-based data mining and analytics firm Cambridge Analytica misused user data from as many as 50 million Facebook users.  This data mining occurred presumably during the 2016 presidential election.  Facebook has since launched a bulk app removal tool to clean up your privacy settings.  These changes are part of Facebook's larger efforts to make app access easier to manage and understand and limit app developers' access to your data.

Users that I’ve communicated with toss the data breach as “this can happen with any thing that we use because all of our information is out there any way.”  Ok!  That may be true. So why are some people so cavalier with their personal information?  I don’t have an answer for that question, but what I can do is provide some information from MyIDCare, a protection for business ID Expert.

Keeping Your Privacy on Facebook

If you want to avoid being part of online tracking and profiling, whether by politicos, advertisers, or potential scammers, here are some steps you can take.

• Tighten up your third-party app settings to control the amount of information apps can harvest and remove apps that you no longer use. Here are detailed instructions on how to do this. There are also settings to control what information friends’ apps can gather from you and a mechanism to contact the app developer and ask that they delete your information that they’ve already gathered.

• Check your Facebook privacy settings and restrict the information that other people (and their apps) can see about you and your Facebook friends. Interestingly, third-party app settings are separate from personal privacy settings. It’s also a good idea to clear your browsing history and cookies periodically.

• Facebook and other sites change their terms of service and privacy policies frequently. Fine tune your personal settings now and set a reminder in your handy smart phone or calendar for a privacy check-up every few months.

• Never install games, quizzes, or other plug-ins without carefully checking their privacy policies first. When you click on a pop-up or ad, there will usually be a link to the “terms of service.” Boring as those are, read them!

• Consider privacy software. There are third-party apps available to block online ads and tracking of your online behavior. Prices range from free to a few dollars.

The final step is to think hard about what you share on social media. Your data is valuable to businesses and criminals alike, and they are always finding new ways to get it.  As long as you have social media accounts or even spend time on the Internet, they will find ways to track you. You don’t have to go so far as joining the #DeleteFacebook movement. But if you value your privacy, be careful where you go, what you click, and what you share online.

I hope you find this information helpful.  Practice safe Facebooking!