If Facebook was as secure as the owners say it is, then we will not be having any issues. Facebook is actually secure up to some extent but some people can still gain unauthorized access to your data these days if you don’t take precautionary measures.
It is no argument that Facebook knows a lot about you, and this alone makes your account a must target for the bad guys of the internet. This has been more evident in recent times with incidents like the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Sometimes even a strong password does not help your case. The research organization was able to collect massive amounts of data from its users and their friends even though Facebook’s leadership knew about the potential flaws.
Thus far, Facebook has provided some tools to secure your account and it doesn’t take too much time at all. In this article, we will be going through some ways you can secure your account and this is best done from a computer rather than your phone. Even if you’ve recently spent time securing your account, you should occasionally visit the Facebook Settings page and look things over once again. There may be new settings that come with new updates.
Read on to learn how to set a strong password, limit how others can search for you and prevent Facebook from keeping your location history.
The following setup will help change your password, delete location history and limit how others can search for you on Facebook.
Usually the first thing you want to do is create a strong password. The reason people do not do this often is because strong passwords are sometimes hard to remember, but if you must secure your account this is really where you start from. After choosing a strong password follow the screen shot directions above to activate Facebook’s two-factor authentication. and enable two-factor authentication This might seem obvious, but the importance can’t be overstated. It is also important to update your password from time to time and try not to share the same password for crucial accounts. For instance, it will not be a clever idea to share the same password across your Facebook, Google and banking accounts. One way to solve the problem of generating and remembering unique passwords for your accounts is to use a password manager application. Check out this link to see some really good password managers (these are our top picks for best password manager).
Once you have a new password, turn on two-factor authentication. With 2FA enabled, you’ll need to enter your secure password and a randomly generated code whenever you sign into your account. (You really should be using 2FA on every account and service that supports it)
Next, you will be happy to know that Facebook has a Privacy settings section for your account. In this section, you can do things like set the default privacy setting for future posts, control who can send you friend requests and decide what information people can use to search for your account.
You should go through the privacy settings and tools page and change each of the settings to suit your use of Facebook. If you want your account to be a bit hidden, then set your future posts to be seen by “Friends” and make your email and number visible to “Only You” or your “Friends.” This way only your friends can search for you on Facebook not just anyone with your account details.
The way we use social networks has changed quite a bit, especially as we become more aware of just how Facebook, and those on Facebook, can use our personal information.
Use of social media has changed drastically, previously about 5 years ago, users used to more free with their social lives not caring so much about everyone seeing their posts. But with the pervasive nature of social media platforms nowadays it is paramount to safeguard yourself from all sorts of online activities.
Thankfully, you can limit your past posts from being visible to anyone who might stumble across your profile.
Go to the Privacy section and find Limit The Audience for Old Posts on Your Timeline, click Limit Last Posts and then click the button with the same title. Anything you’ve ever shared publicly or with friends of friends will be changed to being shared only with friends, thus limiting who can see it.
You can’t pick and choose which posts you want to change via this setting. If you want to do that, you’ll have to manually go through your timeline and make those changes individually.
Audit devices with access to your account
Over the years, we’ve all signed into our Facebook accounts on different phones, computers, tablets and various other devices. Facebook keeps a log of the devices that have access to your account, and makes it easy to revoke access to a rogue device or one you forgot to log out of.
View a list of all those devices under the “Where You’re Logged In” section of the Security and Login page. If you have several devices, click on See More to view the entire list. To remove a device from the list, click on the three-dot icon to the right of the device’s name and then Remove. You’ll be asked whether or not you want all posts that came from that device to be removed from your account as well; a convenient feature should someone have gained access to your account and posted without your permission.
Alternatively, you can sign out of every device linked to your account by clicking See More > Log Out Of All Sessions at the bottom of the list. Log out of all devices to start with a clean slate. The few seconds I’ll spend logging back in each time I use a device that was revoked is well worth the peace of mind.
Keeping tabs on the apps with access to your Facebook account is just plain smart.
Don’t forget to look through apps with access
In that same vein, we’ve all granted countless apps access to our Facebook account. Over time, some apps are abandoned by developers and ultimately become a security risk. Should someone gain access to the app’s database of users, they could — in theory — gain access to some features of your Facebook account.
Visit the Apps and Websites page to view the Active apps that have access to your account. Click the checkbox next to any apps you want to remove, followed by the Remove button.
You can also remove any apps which access has expired by clicking on the Expired tab at the top of the page.
How to disable Facebook location history tracking in the Android app.
Disable Location History on your mobile phone
Facebook uses its access to location data from your phone to create a map of your location history. You can delete your location history here, or if you’d rather Facebook not store your location history at all, you can turn off location history.
On an Android phone, open the Facebook app and then tap on the three-line icon. Under Settings & Privacy select Privacy Shortcuts followed by Manage your location settings on the Privacy card. Next, select Location History and make sure the switch is turned off.
How to disable Facebook location history tracking in the iPhone app.
The process is similar on an iPhone. Open the Facebook app and tap on the three-line icon > Settings & Privacy then select Privacy Shortcuts followed by Manage your location settings on the Privacy card. That’s where you’ll find the switch to turn off location history.
Even after you’ve secured your account, you’ll want to make sure all of your data is secure, or if you’d rather just be done with Facebook altogether, you can delete your account.