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Secure Facebook

Let's start with Facebooks security basics:
  • Protect your password. Don't use your Facebook password anywhere else online and never share it. You should be the only one who knows it. Avoid including your name or common words. Your password should be difficult to guess.
  • Facebook will never send you a message or email asking for your login details or credit card number. If someone asks you for this information do not respond or click on any links in their message. Please report the message to our team to investigate and then delete it. You can also block the sender from contacting you again.

Privacy Shortcuts.

Click on the padlock icon on the top-bar. The "Privacy Shortcuts" will open up. Here you can quickly make changes to protect your privacy.

Clicking on "Who can see my stuff?" will allow you to immediately switch from "Public" to "Friends Only" or vice versa. Another option is under Privacy Settings where you can limit who reads your past posts

Very useful is the "How do I stop someone from bothering me?" option. Here you can quickly block someone who is bothering you by entering their Email address or Facebook name.


Settings.

Let's go deeper into Facebook settings by clicking on the dropdown arrow next to the padlock. Now, select "Settings" in the menu that opened up.


Security Settings.

We will start with security settings. Left click on Security


Login Alerts.

I suggest letting Facebook let you know when someone logs into Facebook from a different device or browser.


Login Approvals.

To be even more secure you can require a PIN number when a new browser tries to login to Facebook. I'm not going to use this one.


Review your activity.

Every now and then you should review what devices, browsers and locations that have been used to login to Facebook. If something is amiss contact Facebook.


Privacy Settings and Tools.

Here Facebook provides you with options for controlling who can see your stuff, contact you and look you up.


Who can see my stuff?

The first option is the same as Privacy Shortcuts from above. Here you can set who see's your new status updates and content in the future. Options can be "Friends only", "Friends of Friends" or "Public." The safe option is "Friends Only". But, if you belong to groups where some of the members are not your friend and you want them to see your posts you will need switch to "Public" every time you post.

Below that you can review your activity log. It's a good idea to check that every now and then to see if anyone tagged you in an unflattering photo.

Limit Past Posts is one time option to limit all you old posts to just friends. But if you've been tagged in a post or picture, the owner of that post or picture and their friends will still be able to see it.


Who can contact me?

As far as "who can send you friend requests", choose "Friends" or "Friends of Friends" if you're concerned about strangers contacting you. Otherwise, choose Everyone.


Who can look me up?

If you have even given Facebook your phone number (It isn't a bad idea to include your phone number as it is a way for you prove to Facebook who you are if your account gets hacked) But for sure in "who can look you up" options set it to Friends only to prevent your phone number finding its way to anyone you don't want it to.

As for having your Facebook profile indexed by search engines. Unless you are a celebrity, I'd make sure this setting is disabled.


Timeline and Tagging

Now we're going to take a look at settings that do with your friends' interactions with your Timeline or wall, so click "Timeline and Tagging" in the sidebar.


Who can add things to my timeline?

This part involves the photos and posts that other people link you to, rather than what you do yourself. You can control whether anyone else can post on your Timeline at all. Select Only Me if you wish to prevent Friends from posting on your feed.

As it says for "Review posts friends tag you in before they appear on your timeline?" With this enabled you can review what someone who has tagged you can post on your timeline.


Who can see things on my timeline?

You can review how others see your Facebook page by clinking on "View As". Here, you'll be presented with a Public view of the profile. By clicking on "View as a specific person" you see how a friend views your profile. Also Facebook advises "Remember: Things you hide from your Timeline still appear in News Feed, search and other places on Facebook."

For the next two options these let you control which groups can view mutual content. If you're concerned about strangers or acquaintances viewing these posts, consider opting for Friends except Acquaintances or Only Me for maximum privacy.

 


How can I manage tags people add and tagging suggestions?

When you or someone else makes a post on Facebook you can tag another person. If it is just a text post you can start typing a name, the full Facebook name will show up and the person tagged will be notified. If someone posts a photo, Facebook offers to allow you to "tag" a person by selecting a face in a photo and writing their Facebook name. If you turn on Review tags people add to your own posts before the tags appear on Facebook? Every time you are tagged you will need to review it before it shows up on Facebook. If you don't mind the extra work and want to be safe then enable this option.

Next option is whether to also notify your friends when you are tagged. With the option to turn that off by selecting "Only me"

 


Manage Blocking


What is blocking? What happens when I block someone?

You can block someone to unfriend them and prevent them from starting conversations with you or seeing things you post on your profile. People you block can no longer:

  • See things you post on your profile
  • Tag you
  • Invite you to events or groups
  • Start a conversation with you
  • Add you as a friend

Blocking is reciprocal, so you also won't be able to do things like start a conversation with them or add them as a friend. Keep in mind that blocking someone may not prevent all communications or interactions, such as in apps or groups, and only affects your experience on Facebook, not elsewhere on the web.

Note: Removing a block will not restore the friend connection. If you block a friend and then remove that person from your block list, you'll need to send them a new friend request.


Block messages, app invites and event invites.

Instead of fully blocking someone, you can also choose to just block their messages or invites.

App invites can be a major annoyance. Facebook makes money from these "apps" so these "invites" are not going anywhere soon. I recommend as soon as someone sends you one of these app invites to yell at them with ALL CAPS. But, it is likely the person has no idea how to stop it or the game itself makes it hard. So, add these offenders to the block invite list. They can remain your friend... for now.


Block apps and pages.

With great satisfaction add apps to this block list as soon as your receive an invite. Happy in the knowledge you'll never receive invites from the game any time soon.

To block a page or a Facebook site it is easier to click the downward arrow at the top right of the offending post and click "Hide all from X," where X is the site you want to block. I imagine here is where you would "unblock" a page if you so desire.


Blocking your apps and games from inviting people.

For you or more importantly for the person who is sending you app invites. Here is how to block Facebook from sending invites.

Click on Edit. Warning: You may have trouble signing into games with your Facebook profile. I suggest logging in separately anyway, so apps or games have no easy method to annoy you. Click on disable platform. In the future if you really need this feature you can turn it back on again.


Apps Others Use.

Next, look to the right for the "Apps Others Use" heading and click Edit. "This makes their experience better and more social." Unbelievable! I'd recommend un-ticking every checkbox.



Ads.

See my tutorial on AdBlock Plus to remove Facebook Ads altogether or read on.


Facebook Ads.

How rich is Mark Zuckerburg? Improve your privacy by disabling or unchecking anything related to personalisation, interest or social actions.


If you've taken these steps you have helped make your experience with Facebook safer and more private. But knowing Facebook, they'll try to get you to give up more of your privacy, stay vigilant!