Are your social media pages really private?

Are your social media pages really private?

Author of article: Safety Defense Coach-Amy Washington. ©2016 Brick Street Safety Academy

One day I was working on one of our social media pages and I saw that my husband liked a few posts. I was curious to see what would pop up if I clicked his name. Surprisingly, all of his personal information was visible to the public. I also checked my daughter’s profile and saw the same thing. The problem was that their privacy settings had changed when the Social Media platform that they were using revamped its website. Like with most user of social media networks my husband and daughter thought their information was still private and protected in spite of the changes. Unfortunately, it was not.

Keep in mind that Social Media networks make changes from time to time and it is your responsibility to make sure that your privacy settings haven’t been affected. When personal profiles with personal information are displayed to the public it brings the risk of identity theft. You’ve probably seen the television show, “Catfish” where imposters steal other people’s profiles and photos to lure unsuspecting individuals to their pages to fool or swindle.

Sadly, there are also information thieves who want to compile information such as: date of birth, work history, background information, maiden name, family dynamics, and so forth to use to apply for credit under your name. The more bread crumbs (information) that you have exposed out on the Internet will eventually lead to some valuable information that someone can use to steal your identity.

It is important to periodically sign out all of your Social Media accounts to see what the public sees. Check your posts, your profile and photo(s) privacy settings. Again, keep in mind that Social Media networks seldomly make changes and when they do, it is imperative that you sign out of your account(s) to see if your privacy settings are still intact.

Therefore, take a moment to check your Social Media pages to see if they are protected.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Be Alert, Aware and most definitely BE SAFE!!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Author of article: Safety Defense Coach-Amy Washington. ©2016 Brick Street Safety Academy