Take control of your Facebook account privacy settings

Free, fun and a great way to keep in touch, it’s no wonder social-networking sites are proving a big hit with home PC users. Everyone, from children to grandparents, is making use of them, and the number of people using them is growing by the day.

However, popular sites such as Facebook have hit the headlines for the wrong reasons, with privacy concerns often the major gripe among users. One of the main problems is that Facebook is constantly evolving.

Naturally, its owners want the site to grow, and the best way to do this is to make its users interact with each other more by sharing information. While this is great for Facebook, it also means you have to keep an eye on your privacy settings. Thankfully, serious privacy invasions resulting in the likes of fraud are exceedingly rare, but it’s well worth knowing exactly how Facebook will share your details.

Computeractive has its own Facebook page (which you can visit at www.facebook.com/computeractive) so we have had a thorough look at the privacy settings. In this article, we will explain all you need to know to enjoy Facebook with peace of mind, especially if you are concerned about how younger family members may be using your PC for this.

Protecting you and your family
Although Facebook can be a great way to keep in touch with people, it’s important to understand how your profile and the information stored within it is set up from a privacy point of view. It’s all too easy to assume this information is only available to trusted friends but if you are not careful you might be offering it up to more people than you realise. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how much to share.

If you have children who use Facebook, we also recommend reviewing their privacy settings; take a look at our Computeractive guide to keeping children safe on social-networking sites. Facebook has a policy of allowing only children aged 13 or over to create an account, but teenagers are often unaware of the potential dangers of revealing too much information.

 

Teenagers and social networking
It’s hardly surprising that teenagers are drawn to social-networking sites with their instant access to gossip and photos. But teens can lose sight of the fact that privacy is something worth being protective of.

There is no magic solution for parents who want to keep younger family members on the right track. Banning access is difficult given the number of ways kids can access the web these days. We think an open conversation about why privacy is important is a good place to start. Encourage kids to check the information for themselves and consider these points:

• Are there some types of photos they would be embarrassed to see on a Facebook page?

• Is it a great idea for anyone to be able to view information about where you live and how to reach you on the phone?

• Why would a stranger want to be your friend completely out of the blue?

Ensure they know about the Report button, which appears alongside messages, photos and other Facebook items. If they are concerned about something, clicking the Report button will alert Facebook administrators to it.

Finally, check out the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and Thinkuknow; both have plenty of helpful information on how to stay safe online. Facebook also has a help section for parents.