The New York Times recently published an article that discusses the severe changes Facebook has made to privacy settings. Each post will give you details on how to manage these new settings and I will break these three topics up so that you can gradually accumulate your Facebook Privacy.
Who Can See The Things You Share? (Status Updates, Photo, Videos, etc.)
Probably the most critical of the privacy changes was the change made to status updates. Although there’s now a button beneath the status update field that lets you select who can view any particular update, the new Facebook default for this setting is “Everyone.” And by everyone, they mean everyone.
If you accepted the new recommended settings then you voluntarily gave Facebook the right to share the information about the items you post with any user or application on the site. Depending on your search settings, you may have also given Facebook the right to share that information with search engines, too.
Understand the new Facebook homepage and know your settings.
The new layout of Facebook’s homepage had some major navigational and privacy setting changes. You may find it harder to find a link that used to be there or find new features that you haven’t seen, but there are some key components to the new Facebook Homepage. As Facebook illustrates in their new homepage tour, there are 6 core components of the new home page: requests and notifications, news feed, bookmarked applications, online friends, account privacy and settings, birthday and event reminders, and Facebook chat.
Take 5 minutes to view the facebook homepage tour and review your privacy settings. While these three settings are very critical, they’re by no means the only privacy settings worth a look. You may think these sorts of items aren’t worth your time now, the next time you lose out on a job because the hiring manager found some inappropriate pictures or saw something inappropriate a friend posted on your wall, you may have second thoughts. But why wait until after a storm to buy an umbrella?
I am starting to reconsider my opinion that online banking is safer than traditional banking. Primarily because I have been hearing horror stories during some of my identity theft seminars. But now I am seeing it in the mainstream media. Case in point: read this short article in this morning’s USA Today about Hackers Swarming Bank Accounts. I’m open to your opinions, but I feel like the thieves are starting to win. In a YouTube video post I did some time ago about online banking, I suggested that if your computer is well-protected, you are better to bank online.
But lately, it seems like the thieves are a step ahead. What are your thoughts? Have you had any troubles with identity being compromised because of the types of threats discussed in the article?
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