Enhancing Your Privacy on Facebook

November 2009

Equifax recognizes the value in permitting the use of social media websites such as Facebook in the workplace. And as many of us know, there are a number of privacy considerations that need to be considered when setting up a Facebook account. The Facebook organization has provided users with powerful controls to protect themselves online, but it is up to individuals to check and ensure that appropriate settings are in place. Equifax Security has provided some tips (below) for enhancing the security and privacy of our Facebook users.

Disable options, then open them one by one
Think about how you want to use Facebook. If it's only to keep in touch with people and be able to contact them then maybe it's better to turn off the bells and whistles. It makes a lot of sense to disable an option until you have decided you do want and need it, rather than start with everything accessible.

Create groups to separate your work contacts from your personal contacts
Doing so will allow you to set up permissions on what they can and cannot see. A typical setup for groups would be “Friends”, “Family”, and “Professional”. These three groups can then be used to apply different privacy policies. For example, you may want your friends to see photos from the party you were at last night, but you don’t want your family or professional contacts to see those photos.

Be cautious of ANY embedded links
Think twice before clicking on ANY web links inside Facebook! You are better off not clicking on links to other websites since this is a common way for people to get viruses or become victims of phishing scams. Also beware of links starting with www.tinyurl.com, www.snurl.com, or http://www.twurl.com/. These are some examples of web services that provide short aliases for redirection of long URLs – which online scammers and malware authors use all the time.

Follow strong password practices
Change your password on a regular basis, and never use a password that is close to or an exact match of a password used for financial transactions online (PayPal, banking, Google checkout, etc.), or email account.

Become a Facebook Security fan
Facebook maintains a group dedicated to security when using the site. Become a fan of this group to stay in touch with the latest information.

Detailed information (including screen shots) regarding the above can be found at the below sites:
1. http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/
2. http://www.sophos.com/security/best-practice/facebook.html

The 3 Facebook Settings Every User Should Check Now

Thank you to Ann Morrow from Celebration for Fine Art for forwarding this excellent article about the privacy changes on Facebook. You REALLY need to check these settings.

New York Times article