Sarah Tew/CNETFacebook ‘s parent party may now be known as Meta, but the social network still has many of the like old problems around data privacy, hate speech and misinformation. so, as an early new year ‘s resolution, you may make it a goal to do regular privacy check up. I suggest doing one every couple of months ( it ‘s helpful to set a reminder in your calendar app ). Doing so will help you keep up with the constant changes Facebook makes and will help you keep tabs on random apps you grant access to your information. Facebook, after all, is one of the largest on-line hoarders of our personal data. Because of that, our secret information is a flower target for manque bad actors. Accessing your information does n’t always mean gaining steer access to your account due to a hapless password. alternatively, as we learned a few years ago from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, approving a rogue app can do just deoxyadenosine monophosphate much price. Read more: Do n’t just deactivate your Facebook account. Delete it permanently
so while I have your attention and you ‘re thinking about it, take a few minutes to secure your Facebook report. I recommend going through the steps outlined below on a computer — not your phone. It makes it easier to read all the pertinent information while you make adjustments. Keep read to learn how to set a potent password, limit how others can search for you and prevent Facebook from keeping your location history .
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Use a strong password and two-factor authentication
The inaugural things you should do to secure your Facebook account are to create a solid password and enable two-factor authentication. This might seem obvious, but the importance ca n’t be overstated. You ‘ll besides want to make sure you ‘re not using the lapp password for crucial accounts like your deposit app. Use a password coach to help create and, most importantly, remember your singular passwords ( these are our top picks for best password coach ). Go to the Security page and change your password .
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET once you have a modern password, turn on two-factor authentication. With 2FA enabled, you ‘ll need to enter your dependable password and a randomly generated code whenever you sign in to your history. ( You truly should be using 2FA on every report and serve that supports it. ) Read more: Best password director to use for 2021 Most password managers have the ability to store your two-factor authentication codes, ampere well. however, you can always use Google Authenticator to store and provide access to your codes if needed .
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Go through Privacy Settings and Tools
Facebook has a dedicated Privacy department for your score. In this section, you can do things like set the default privacy setting for future posts, control condition who can send you friend requests and decide what information people can use to search for your report. Go through each and every choice on the privacy settings and tools page and adjust each one to your like. I suggest setting your future posts to “ Friends ” and limiting the call number and e-mail address search options to “ Friends ” or “ entirely Me ” to ensure that anyone with fair a piece of your personal information ca n’t find your account .
Remove past posts from the public eye
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET The way we use social networks has changed quite a snatch, particularly as we become more aware of barely how Facebook, and those on Facebook, can use our personal information. thankfully, you can limit your past posts from being visible to anyone who might stumble across your profile.
Go to the Privacy section and find Limit the audience for posts you’ve shared with friends of friends or Public? and click on it. next, click the button labeled Limit Last Posts. Facebook will then convert anything you ‘ve ever shared publicly or with friends of friends to being visible by only your friends, frankincense limiting who can see it. It ‘s an all-or-none place setting. Meaning, you ca n’t pick and choose which posts you want to change via this set. If you want to do that, you ‘ll have to manually go through your timeline and make those changes individually .
Audit devices with access to your account
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET Over the years, we ‘ve all signed into our Facebook accounts on different phones, computers, tablets and respective other devices. Facebook keeps a log of the devices that have access to your account, and makes it easy to revoke access to a rogue device or one you forgot to log out of. View a list of all those devices under the Where You’re Logged In section of the Security and Login page. If you have several devices, suction stop on See More to view the entire list. To remove a device from the list, snap on the three-dot picture to the correct of the device ‘s name and then Log Out. You ‘ll be asked whether or not you want all posts that came from that device to be removed from your bill angstrom well ; a convenient feature of speech should person have gained access to your account and posted without your permission. alternatively, you can sign out of every device linked to your report by clicking See More > Log Out Of All Sessions at the bottom of the number. I found a match of devices from 2012 that still had access to my report while writing this article — yikes. I logged out of all devices to start with a clean slate as a solution. The few seconds I ‘ll spend logging back in each fourth dimension I use a device that was revoked is well worth the peace of mind .
Don’t forget to look through apps with access
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET In that same vein, we ‘ve all granted countless apps access to our Facebook account. Over time, some apps are abandoned by developers and ultimately become a security risk. Should person gain access to the app ‘s database of users, they could — in theory — gain access to some features and information stored in your Facebook history. Visit the Apps and Websites page to view the Active apps that have access to your account. If you have an expired app, like I do in the screenshot above, or apps you no longer want to retain access to your Facebook account, click the Remove button to the right of the app ‘s name .
Sarah Tew/CNET
Turn off, delete Location History on your phone
Facebook uses its access to location data from your telephone to create a function of your placement history. You can delete your localization history hera, or if you ‘d preferably Facebook not shop your localization history at all, you can turn off location history on that same page. On an Android telephone, open the Facebook app and then tap on the three-line icon. Under Settings & Privacy blue-ribbon Privacy Shortcuts followed by Manage your location settings on the Privacy card. following, blue-ribbon Location History > View your Location History and enter your account password when asked. ultimately, wiretap on the three-dot icon in the top-right corner and blue-ribbon Delete all Location History. The procedure is similar on an iPhone. Open the Facebook app and tap on the three-line icon, then Settings & Privacy then blue-ribbon Privacy Shortcuts followed by Manage your location settings on the Privacy card. Select Location History > View your Location History and enter your explanation password when asked. finally, tap on the three-dot picture in the top-right corner and choice Delete all Location History. not certain you evening want to use Facebook anymore ? You can delete your explanation, but it takes some planning on your function. If you just ca n’t get away from Facebook, for whatever reason, here are tips to keep your data dependable and some of the best VPN services to try .
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