Social media privacy refers to the personal and sensitive information that people can find out about you from your accounts. This information can be purposefully shared (such as in public profiles and posts) or unknowingly shared (such as the data sites share with other companies and social media marketing agencies).
But while most people are concerned about what companies know about them, the bigger danger is what scammers and fraudsters know — and how they can use that information.
Why Does Social Media Privacy Matter?
Even with your account set to private, advertisers and scammers can gain access to your sensitive data in the form of:
- Profile information — such as your name, birthdate, and contact information.
- Status updates — including personal life events, work and relationship status, and religious beliefs.
- Location data — such as your hometown information and geo check-ins.
- Personal interests — including hobbies and buying history.
- Shared content — such as personal images and videos.
- Posts from friends and family — anything someone posts about you can be found and used by advertisers, hackers, and fraudsters.
What’s even more worrying is that some social media sites (like Facebook) collect user data about people who don’t even have an account [*]. These “shadow profiles” are typically used to target you with ads on other connected sites.
What are the Most Common Social Media Privacy Issues?
- Hacking and account takeovers
- Social media phishing scams
- Shared location data
- Data mining leading to identity theft
- Privacy “loopholes” that expose your data
- Employers evaluating you based on your posts
- Doxing leading to emotional distress
- Cyberbullying and online harassment
- Romance scams on social media
- Third-party apps with account access
- Malware and viruses in messages
- An excessive online footprint
The more information you share on social media, the more you put your identity, accounts, and finances at risk. Here are the most common social media privacy issues that you need to know about
Ultimately, staying private on social media isn’t just about changing your settings. You also need to change how you use social media.
Here are 10 tips to help you keep your social media profiles secure and private:
- Set strong passwords, and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on your accounts whenever available.
- Avoid using publicly known or available information as the answers to your password security questions.
- Only provide social media platforms with the minimum amount of information requested to create an account.
- Whenever possible, do not provide social media sites or third-party apps access to your email accounts or contacts.
- Create a separate email account to use just for your social media profiles and third-party apps. With Aura, you can easily create and manage “throwaway” email accounts that give you access to services while protecting your main inbox.
- Review every social media site’s privacy policy before signing up and posting content.
- Disable location sharing across all social media, and avoid using geotagged photos.
- Review your current privacy settings and make sure your account has not been made public by default.
- Learn to recognize the signs of online scams.
- Consider signing up for an all-in-one digital security solution. Aura combines top-rated identity theft protection with 24/7 credit monitoring, Dark Web monitoring, digital security tools — such as antivirus software and a virtual private network (VPN) — and a $1 million insurance policy that covers you against eligible losses due to identity theft. Try Aura free for 14 days and see if it’s right for you!
Stay Social, Private, and Secure
Social media will always be a balancing act between privacy and promotion. The more public you make your personal information, the higher risk there is that you’ll be targeted by scammers and hackers.
Keep your accounts safe by using strong privacy settings, and protect yourself from scammers with Aura’s comprehensive identity theft protection service.
Nice blog
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