When Cambridge Analytica violated the privacy of over 87 million Facebook users in 2018, many of those in digital marketing took a step back to consider: How exactly can we protect our customers? Nobody wants their personal information leaked to the public without their consent, yet despite all our collective efforts to keep up with the times, over 500 million people were still found to have their personal data leaked to the public – yet again – in April.
With so many people feeling rightfully upset by this most recent betrayal, we understand why users all over the world may be tempted to delete their Facebook profiles altogether. We get it. We really do. And as tempting as it may be to simply close those accounts and move on with our lives, the fact of the matter is that most people simply won’t do that.
Despite Facebook’s egregious history, there are still 2.7 billion people with active accounts on Facebook. 2.7 billion people who choose to risk it anyway. Why? Because cutting themselves off from that many potential customers is not-so-metaphorical suicide for small business owners who desire to make connections in that community.
Our purpose is to help small businesses thrive. And while Two Trees PPC can absolutely help you advertise your services and promote your brand to the public in general, we simply cannot turn a blind eye to this topic without properly addressing it on the behalf of our customers and our community.
So, while Facebook still has the upper hand in all this… how exactly do we protect ourselves?
Yes. It may sound crazy, but it’s true. While Facebook’s administrative team insists that this most recent privacy breach is merely a re-release of data collected back in 2019, the fact of the matter is that personal email addresses, phone numbers, locations, and more were leaked without their user’s consent. If you are unsure if your account may have been one of those 500 million, please click here to find out for sure.
The funny thing is that the only way to truly secure your privacy is not to capture or post content at all. We also understand the unlikelihood of that reality, which is precisely why this article exists.
Steps to Avoid Privacy Breaches on Facebook
It might sound obvious, but this is a step that so many tend to overlook when they update their personal accounts. Many users admit that they have lost their logins to the mysterious capabilities of their device’s built-in “autosave” function, but it is worth attempting to reclaim if you wish to make absolutely sure that your account could be harder to hack into.
You can usually reclaim your login credentials by logging into your browser’s saved autofill collection, but there is another way to secure your account without even access this information:
Not everyone wishes to set their accounts to “Private,” but if you fail to complete this step you are actually inadvertently allowing anyone to access the data you have posted on there. You can always choose which images you prefer to share publicly (such as your profile photos and cover photos, which are all set to Public by default), but we implore you to please reset your privacy settings to ensure that your information will only be visible to those you have accepted as “Friends.” If you wish to look into this further, you may do so by visiting the “Privacy Tab”, which you will find listed under Settings as well.
One of the best ways to keep up with such things is to perform your own security check every time Facebook notifies you of new updates to their website. We may not be able to do anything about their insecure storage habits, but we can do everything we can to protect our passwords and update our settings. And that begins with staying on top of things and updating our privacy settings ourselves.
Now comes the part that most Facebook users would really rather avoid: Culling through your content! And unless your account happens to be one of those “new” to interwebs, there are probably thousands upon thousands of posts connected to your Facebook account by now. Can you confidently say that they are all set to Private?
For the best possible security settings, we would recommend that you begin with the following:
This one is tricky. While it is absolutely true that you can control and manage all of your content, you also have no control over the things that other people choose to post. None. You might not be able to delete somebody else’s photo of you, but what you can do is control the ability for that content to be seen on your profile!
It seems like ages ago when we once maintained multiple and equally varied circles of friends. From boss buddies to distant relatives and all the strange and beautiful that color our inner circles, social media is… strange to say the least. While it’s true that you have the right to share whatever you please on your personal profiles, it is also true that not everything will be suitable for all the people on your Friends List. Some honestly do not mind the blurring of the lines, and that is perfectly fine. But if you happen to be one of the many who would prefer to keep the feelings of your “Friends” in mind when you post, there are a few things you can do to assist with that endeavor.
Yet another funny and largely unknown fact about Facebook Friend Requests is that until you confirm or deny a request, these pending requests will be able to follow you on their news feeds. If you don’t want a bunch of unknown followers watching your posts and saving your info, please be sure to stay on top of those Friend Requests and deny any accounts that look unfamiliar to you. It is always best to cancel those unknown requests right away and mark those profiles as “spam” if the account if the connection is not one you wish to establish.
Oh, the “Locations” Tab. The one place many of us will never think to check, yet it continues to be one of the most common pieces of data that find themselves included in these infamous privacy breaches. While it is true that you can “turn off” or disable your location history, you will need to disable all of your location settings on all of your devices in order to prohibit Facebook from having access to your location. This can be tedious, considering how handy it is to have your location activated when you choose to use Google Maps… but we simply must be sure you are informed of the risks as well. If wish to reduce your chances of giving Facebook access to your location you will have to do one of the following:
We all know that in order to have a Facebook account, you will need to provide a full name, birth date, and contact info at the very least. When you connect to Friends, you are also allowing access to the names of your family members, past schools, places of work, favorite shows, groups, hometown, etc. If you fail to maintain your privacy settings, you will be putting yourself at serious risk of identity theft. If you truly wish to protect yourself from such things, you can change your settings to Private or delete any sensitive information on your profile altogether.
Every person on Facebook has seen an add about the latest coolest app. No matter how fun it may be to take part in a quiz, play a game, or swap a celebrity’s face with your own, every time you do this, you are giving that Third-Party App access to all of your more sensitive data.
In order to prevent apps using your info:
We have all heard the jokes about Facebook being a literal “book of faces.” And it is quite funny… until you realize their automated settings are made to allow Face Recognition at all times.
So, yes. Please be sure to turn off Face Recognition in addition to all those Third-Party Apps you unwittingly signed up for.
Two Trees PPC simply cannot turn a blind eye to these past events, so the least we can do is prepare you for the days ahead. Now that you have finally cleaned up your Facebook account, you can breathe a much-deserved sigh of relief.
Set a reminder to check those privacy settings again in another month or two. You will want to make sure that Facebook’s future updates do not reset all the Privacy Settings you put so much work into customizing. And if you should ever choose to delete your Facebook account anyway, please know that you may do so by following these instructions.
Two Trees was created for the sole purpose of helping small businesses thrive. We have trained to help businesses cope with moments just like this one, and while we can absolutely help you advertise your services more effectively, we simply cannot stand idly by without properly addressing this topic on the behalf of our customers and our community.
Be safe out there. And if you have any other questions, you know who to call.