10 Facebook Privacy tips

These tips are from a joint presentation given by Career Services and the Dick Smith Library. For details, check out this PDF.

10. Check your account's privacy settings regularly. Facebook sometimes revises privacy features without notifying users.

9. Don't use Facebook to log onto or leave comments on other sites...or even public Facebook pages. Even an innocent misspelling or slightly political comment might come back to haunt you one of these days. If you have to comment, do so anonymously--and avoid hateful comments, since your IP address is easily traceable.

8.Restrict the use of your information in Facebook ads.

7. Restrict apps and games. Even if you don't take quizzes or play games, third-party companies can access your information through your friends who do.

6. Create and customize groups. Then decide which group can access personal information about you. For example, you may not want your boss to see wall posts about your love life.

5. Test your privacy settings. Don't assume everything is OK.

4. Control access to your photo albums and videos. You may not want your "Family" group to have access to party photos from last week. Actually, it's probably best to leave those photos off of Facebook altogether. **Update: Facebook has now enabled facial recognition software so that it is easier to tag your friends in photos. If you don't want others to tag you in photos, go to Account Settings-->Customize Settings-->Suggest photos of me to friends-->Edit Settings-->Disabled-->Okay.

3. Edit your profile, including your picture. It may be possible for an identity thief to reconstruct your information with your full name and birth date.

2. Use https://; add a security question. Https: provides a secure socket layer to encrypt your information. A security question makes it more difficult for other people to log into your account.

1. Decide whether you want to be shown in search engine results.