The ins and outs of Facebook privacy settings

March 26, 2018

A new complete guide published on Techlicious explains in great detail what you can do to ensure that you have “full control” of your Facebook privacy settings.

With concerns over privacy becoming a growing issue in our increasingly online world, “vocal demands for transparency from both Facebook users and government regulators around the world” have prompted the social media site to enable its users to more easily adjust their privacy settings.

Beginning with the basic privacy options, for users who are daunted by Facebook’s “substantial settings menu”, the guide offers a “user-friendly” introduction to the most crucial privacy settings.

Posts

For your Facebook posts, Techlicious recommends opting for the Friends setting rather than Public, as with the latter, “your posts can be seen by anyone on or off Facebook.” You can also customise the Friends setting to exclude certain Facebook friends from seeing your posts, if you so desire, but remember that “the Friends of anyone tagged in your post or photos will be able to see that post unless you uncheck the option in this window.”

Additionally, if you are part of a Facebook group or if you have compiled a list of Facebook friends, “you can restrict the posts that way or hide your posts from those groups and lists as well.” The privacy setting of any individual post you make can also be altered “by clicking on the sharing button to the left of the Post button.”

Apps

It is worth bearing in mind, if you are fond of Facebook apps, that each app you install has “permission to post to your Friends list unless you told it otherwise at the time you installed it.” Going to the app section of your Privacy settings will reveal the apps that are attached to your account and what the sharing permission is for each, as well as showing who can see the apps you have installed.

Profile

The Profile section of the Privacy settings will show you how private your personal details are, and allows you to customise their privacy. For example, if you want to show the day of your birth but not the year, you can adjust it accordingly, and if you are in a relationship with another Facebook user, you can control who sees this information.

Note that, to see the full list of the personal information you are sharing with other Facebook users, you have to go on the My About Page button, which will show you your profile page and lets you review the different sections.

Advanced privacy options

For users who are prepared to delve into the more advanced privacy settings, Techlicious offers detailed instructions, such as how to review your posts and other things you are tagged in, how to review your activity on Facebook, how to limit the audience of your old posts, and more.

The article also includes tips on controlling who can contact you, whether or not you want search engines to display your Facebook page on their results, and takes you through timeline and tagging options, managing blocking, customising your app privacy, and adjusting your follower settings.

Categories : Around the Industry

Tags : Facebook Privacy Social Media