Stay secure on Facebook

Browse to www.facebook.com and log in. Select Friends, followed by Everyone. Friends have access to more personal details on each other’s profiles than other members do. Many people think that having a large number of friends denotes a higher social standing, but it also means that more people can see the personal profile, which may not be a good thing. Examine each of the friends in the list and remove anyone you don’t know personally. Click the cross to the right of the friend’s name, followed by Remove friend.

Friends often send Facebook applications to one another. These are programs produced by Facebook or other people that make it possible to share different types of information on each other’s profiles. They may have serious uses, but many are games or quizzes. Think carefully before adding an application. All need to access participants’ information. Share the minimum amount of information for the application to work. Many offer to invite all your friends to join the application by default. Consider their privacy and only invite those who would really appreciate the invitation.

Now click Networks. A network is a group of people on Facebook who come from or live in the same town or area. Networks also exist for schools and some workplaces. Members of networks get similar access to profiles as friends do, depending on the privacy settings of each profile. By default other network members see full profiles, which could lead to data misuse. Think carefully about each network listed here and remove any unnecessary ones. Scroll to the bottom of the network page and choose ‘Leave this network’, followed by Leave Network to confirm.

Click the Privacy link in the top-right corner. This shows an overview of the current privacy settings in six key areas of Facebook. The line shown to the right of each area denotes the level of privacy currently set. The further the line is to the right, the lower the level of privacy is set. To block individuals from accessing your profile completely, enter a name under Block People and click Add. Select the person from the list that appears and click Block.

Click the Profile link. Use the dropdown list next to Profile to select who can see the full profile. This can include all networks and friends or friends only. Opt for Only my friends for better privacy. Do the same for status updates, videos and photos tagged and Online status. Work down the screen ensuring that only friends can see contact information such as instant messenger screen names and email addresses. Do the same for applications in the profile and click Save to keep the changes.

Back in the main Privacy settings page, select Search. By default all Facebook users can search to find a profile. Under the heading ‘Which Facebook users can find me in search?’ change Everyone to Only my friends. This prevents users coming across your profile by chance. Click Save. Select Applications and remove any that are no longer used. Click Remove next to each unwanted application and click Save. Click Poke Message and Friend Request and limit the information that is displayed to people that you contact in case you do so by mistake.