Protect Your Identity on Facebook in 4 Easy Steps

Facebook has become a de facto source for people to find their friends, to inform the world what is new in their lives, and to know about all their friends. This has created a channel where one can activate two-way communication, participate in community discussions, and even have private discussions.

But the sad part is, the very feature of Facebook which help us connect with our folks also makes us vulnerable to vicious attacks from identity thieves. All hopes are not lost, though, there are ways to prevent identity thieves to use your Facebook profile to create a fake identify to get financial or other favor from the system.

4 steps to protect your identity thieves

Step 1: Beef up your security

Go to the privacy setting of your Facebook account and change the setting to either custom and select individuals who you want to give access to which section of your blog, or at least, change the setting to “Friends only”. Remove any “everyone” or “friends of friends” option from key fields. Do not let them see even any photograph, other than the one visible in your profile photo.

Step 2: Remove your personal information

Many people, particularly kids and teenagers have this bad habit of putting their street addresses, phone numbers, and all personal details on Facebook profile. This is a serious security flaw, and should be taken care of.

Remove all your personal information from info section of Facebook, and instead of posting it there, send the information to your friends through mail or Facebook message, should someone need that info and you trust that person to share your details with him or her.

Step 3: Hide your photos and videos

Do not allow strangers or even friends of friends to see your photos or videos. In fact, you should limit the access to your wall and albums to friends only. This is an important step towards protecting your identity on Facebook.

Step 4: Mobile alert

Along with it, you should set a mobile alert for all signing attempts from “non-authorized” computers, and do not authorize each and every computer to access your Facebook account. Only allow the ones that you will use frequently.

In case you have to authorize a computer in the cyber café for the purpose, then duly deauthorize the system before logging out, or from your system.

Conclusion

Keeping you antenna out to look for mischievous behavior in your Facebook account is very much required. If you cannot do that, your identity will be at risk.