How to protect your personal data on social networks

Social media is now part of our daily lives, but each social network has a specific purpose. It is important to use the right platform for the right task, and to do it correctly. Sometimes, we do not give importance to small details that can pose a risk to our privacy on the Internet.
On these platforms, we can share a variety of content with our friends or followers such as photos, videos, thoughts, important events either from our personal or work environment which carries the risk that our information is also accessible to unauthorized persons..
How can we make use of social media without putting our privacy at risk?

Here are some practical and simple tips for protecting your personal data on social networks.

Adjust privacy settings

Each social network offers privacy settings which allow us to control who can see our information and posts, so it is important to review and adjust these settings regularly.

One of the basic settings to consider before sharing any publication is to adjust the privacy of the same. Make sure you define who can see your posts. You can choose from various levels such as ‘Only me’ , ‘Public’ or ‘Friends’ I personally consider that using the latter is the best option, as only your followers will be able to see your posts..

Be careful about the information you share

Keep in mind that not all information should be shared on social networks, some personal information such as your address or phone number can be used fraudulently for harassment or identity theft.

For example, sharing your full date of birth may be tempting to receive lots of congratulations that day, but this information can be used to guess passwords or answer security questions.

We should never share banking information, credit card numbers or any financial data on our social media profiles as they are susceptible to breach and theft.

Finally, while sharing work-related information on social media may seem harmless, extreme caution should be exercised as this can have serious consequences. Information such as confidential company data, ongoing projects, images of the workplace or passwords and login details should not be published.

Controlling who can see our posts

One of the main purposes of social networks is to keep us connected with friends and people we know.

A very important point is that only those people we trust can see what we share, so it is advisable not to accept friend requests or add unknown people to our social networks because they might not have good intentions.

Most platforms allow us to restrict both our profile search and friend requests, block incoming messages and also limit the visibility of our posts to ‘Friends’ or ‘Followers’.

Another option to consider is to create custom lists to share content only with certain groups.

Review connected applications

It is important to review and control the applications and websites to which our account is given access. Often, we allow third party applications to connect to our social media accounts and by implication these applications may have access to our personal information.

We should regularly review connected applications and remove those that we no longer use or do not recognize. This is especially important on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

Be wary of friend requests

There can be great risk in accepting friend or follow-up requests from strangers. An increasing number of fake profiles are being used fraudulently to obtain personal information, follow or commit scams.
Before accepting someone as a friend or follower, it is important to always verify the person's identity. If we detect a suspicious profile, we should make sure to block it and report it through the corresponding platform.

Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication

Passwords are the first line of defense against unauthorized access to your account.

I recommend always using long and complex passwords, making sure it is at least a 12-character combination that includes uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols.

A good security practice is to change passwords regularly and to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on all platforms that allow it, adding an extra layer of security by requiring a verification code in combination to your password.

Check your social media activity

We will make sure to regularly review our social media activity to check and avoid suspicious posts or interactions.

Social networks have great reach and utility in keeping us connected and sharing our lives with others. At GMV we believe that one of the best ways to maintain and guarantee security on social networks is by training and raising awareness among the users who are going to use them. Therefore, every year we take care to carry out different training courses, talks or posts to not only convey the risks involved in the inappropriate use of social networks but also to explain and teach the user how to avoid them and take measures to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of our personal data.

We can improve our social networking experience by adjusting our privacy settings, being selective about the information we share and using strong passwords. In this way, you can ensure a more enjoyable and protected online experience.

Author: Adrián Sánchez Fernández