“I’m pretty open book. I’m also the kind of person that will say, ‘That’s none of your business.’” Ice T
Social media platforms are powerful tools for connecting, sharing content, conducting business, and disseminating news. Billions of people post personal information on social networking sites including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn. Social networking companies harvest sensitive data about individuals’ activities, interests, personal characteristics, political views, purchasing habits, and online behaviors.
Social networking sites also collect data about you from third parties. For instance, using a panel of 709 volunteers who shared archives of their Facebook data, Consumer Reports found that 186,892 companies sent data about them to the social network. On average, each participant had their data sent to Facebook by 2,230 companies.
You should assume that anything you post on a social networking site may become public information. It’s “open book.” It’s up to you to decide how much information you choose to share, and what you choose not to share, because it’s “none of your business.”
In practice, what gets shared is hard to control. But don’t let the fact that it’s hard to control, and that privacy policies may change and site security protections may fail, deter you from managing your privacy permissions on social networking sites. The specifics vary by site. Here are a few things to think about:
- Many social networking sites have tools to audit or review your privacy settings. I recommend you take full advantage of these tools and limit the amount of information you share and with whom.
- Avoid sharing data that’s prized by identity thieves, including your age, birthday, place of birth, home address and phone number.
- Exercise caution when using third-party applications offered through social media sites. They likely have separate privacy policies governing the use and exploitation of your data.
- Use caution when receiving a friend request from someone you don’t know. This is a common tactic for fraudsters. It’s best to reject such requests. If you choose to accept them, limit the amount of personal data you share.
- When you post photos online, they may contain hidden information called “Exif” data that includes when and where the photo was taken. If you prefer not to share this information, there are several approaches that I will consider in a later post. The simplest way to exclude the data is to take a screenshot of the photo using your phone. Screenshots typically don’t include the same Exif data that the camera on your phone captures.
- Respect the rights of friends and family when posting on social network sites. They may prefer not to have their photos or personal information shared. Privacy is a team sport. We’re all in it together.
I recommend you review the privacy settings on the sites that you use. Here are some links for common social networking sites to point you in the right direction:
- Facebook Privacy Checkup: https://www.facebook.com/help/443357099140264
- TikTok Account Privacy Settings: https://support.tiktok.com/en/account-and-privacy/account-privacy-settings
- Instagram Privacy Settings: https://help.instagram.com/196883487377501
- Snapchat Privacy Settings: https://help.snapchat.com/hc/en-us/articles/7012343074580-How-do-I-change-my-privacy-settings-on-Snapchat
- YouTube (Google) Privacy Checkup: https://myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup
- Twitter/X Ads and Data Privacy: https://help.twitter.com/en/safety-and-security#ads-and-data-privacy
- LinkedIn Privacy Settings: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a1337839/managing-your-account-and-privacy-settings-overview?lang=en
As we proceed forward, the recommendations in this blog also provide protection against invasive collection of your data by social media companies. We’ll discuss virtual private networks (VPNs), private web browsers, web search, text messaging, and email. I will also suggest some privacy focused alternatives to the major social networking sites.
Remember, when you post data on a social networking site, you are the product. That’s their business model. Choose what you share wisely.
Information provided in this post is subject to the disclaimer in the first post of this series.