Privacy Settings
When you are using any online platform, it is extremely important to stay safe and secure. We can do this by understanding what options are available to us under the privacy settings when using the Facebook platform.
Privacy settings allow you to control and determine what information on your profile is visible to other online users. There are options you can choose from, from having your profile completely visible to everyone on Facebook to limiting the amount of personal information visible to Facebook users including your Facebook friends.
Privacy settings ultimately allows you to have control over how your information is handled online. Now remember, nothing on the internet will ever be 100 percent secure, but there are steps that you can take to make sure your profile is safer and meets your comfort level.
If you haven’t checked out our Online Safety course, I highly recommend going through it as it can be helpful when using Facebook. Check out these reasons why privacy settings are important.
Why are Privacy Settings on Facebook Important?
There are a few reasons why we want to discuss privacy settings. When using Facebook or any online platform, it’s important to have control over your privacy and security. Check out the reasons why privacy settings are important.
Control who can view your information and activity: There are a lot of people on Facebook, but you can control who can see your information an activity. If you only want your Facebook friends to see what you share on Facebook, you can make your profile private. This means that if someone who is not your friend on Facebook visits your profile, they will not be able to view your personal information, posts or photos.
Control who can see your Friends list: You can protect your and your Facebook friends’ privacy by changing the settings to manage who can view your list of friends. You can allow all users to see your friends list or limit it so some or none can see who you are friends with on Facebook.
Set your ad preferences: Facebook not only connects people but is also used as a platform for companies to advertise their products and services. Facebook creates ad preferences for you based on your profile information, and your activity while on and off Facebook. Through privacy settings you can view, add, and remove the ad preferences so you have more control over the ad visibility on your account.
These are only some reasons why privacy settings are important. In the next lesson, we will discuss how to use the privacy settings, especially around your posts. But first, let’s talk about a Facebook feature called Privacy Checkup.
Privacy Checkup on Facebook
Just like we get regular checkups at the doctor to make sure everything is okay, Facebook now has a feature that allows you to checkup on your privacy settings to make sure everything is set to the way you want it. The Privacy Checkup feature guides you through your privacy settings, and you can even set a reminder for yourself to do a privacy checkup. With the privacy checkup you can review who can see what you share, how to keep your account secure, how people can find you on Facebook, your data settings, and your ad preferences. Cool, right?! Now you can have complete control over your account, which is important to a lot of us.
To get to Privacy Checkup on Facebook, there are just a few steps. Check out the steps that are listed below.
Step 1: From your Facebook homepage, click on the button with the downward arrow located on the right-side of the screen.
Step 2: A dropdown menu will appear. Choose the option titled Settings and Privacy.
Step 3: Another menu will appear. Choose the option titled Privacy Checkup.
Step 4: You will be brought to the Privacy Checkup main page where Facebook will guide you through your privacy settings. Click on the section you would like to start at and go through the guide to complete your checkup.
