Social Media Privacy Checklist

Platform-by-platform privacy settings for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter/X

Quick Answer

Make your profiles private, limit who can see your posts, and review what you share. Scammers and stalkers use social media to gather information about you. Lock down your privacy settings on every platform.

Facebook Privacy Settings

Essential Settings to Change:

  1. Profile Privacy
    • Settings → Privacy → Who can see your future posts? → Friends
    • Limit past posts → Friends
  2. Profile Information
    • Settings → Privacy → Who can see your friends list? → Only me
    • Who can look you up using email/phone? → Friends
    • Do you want search engines to link to your profile? → No
  3. Timeline and Tagging
    • Who can post on your timeline? → Only me
    • Review posts you're tagged in → Enabled
    • Review tags before they appear → Enabled
  4. Location Services
    • Turn off location history
    • Don't auto-tag locations in posts

Instagram Privacy Settings

Essential Settings to Change:

  1. Make Account Private
    • Settings → Privacy → Private Account → On
  2. Story Privacy
    • Settings → Privacy → Story → Hide story from specific people
    • Allow sharing → Off
  3. Activity Status
    • Settings → Privacy → Activity Status → Off
  4. Comments and Tags
    • Manually approve tags → On
    • Hide offensive comments → On
  5. Location
    • Don't tag your home location
    • Wait until after leaving to post location-tagged content

TikTok Privacy Settings

Essential Settings to Change:

  1. Account Privacy
    • Settings → Privacy → Private Account → On
  2. Who Can...
    • Comment on your videos → Friends
    • Duet/Stitch with your videos → Friends
    • Send you messages → Friends
  3. Data and Personalization
    • Personalized ads → Off
    • Activity data → Limit what's collected
  4. Safety
    • Filter comments → On
    • Block specific words

LinkedIn Privacy Settings

Essential Settings to Change:

  1. Profile Visibility
    • Settings → Visibility → Profile viewing options → Private mode
    • Edit your public profile → Limit what's visible to non-connections
  2. Activity Broadcasts
    • Share profile updates with network → No
    • Notify connections when you're in the news → No
  3. Who Can See Your Connections
    • Settings → Visibility → Who can see your connections → Only you
  4. Messaging
    • Who can reach you → Connections only
    • Read receipts → Off

Twitter/X Privacy Settings

Essential Settings to Change:

  1. Protect Your Tweets
    • Settings → Privacy and Safety → Protect your posts → On
  2. Discoverability
    • Let others find you by email/phone → Off
  3. Photo Tagging
    • Allow anyone to tag you → Off
  4. Direct Messages
    • Allow message requests from everyone → Off
    • Filter low-quality messages → On
  5. Location
    • Add location information to posts → Off

General Social Media Safety Tips

What NOT to Share:

  • Home address - Don't tag your home location
  • Phone number - Keep it private
  • Vacation plans - Wait until you're home to post vacation photos
  • Daily routines - Don't broadcast your schedule
  • Financial information - No bank statements, paychecks, etc.
  • Children's information - Names, schools, locations
  • ID documents - Driver's license, passport (even blurred)
  • Boarding passes - Contain sensitive info

Safe Posting Habits:

  • Think before you post - Once online, it's permanent
  • Review privacy settings regularly - Platforms change them
  • Google yourself - See what others can find
  • Limit friend requests - Only accept people you know
  • Be careful with quizzes - They collect data
  • Review tagged photos - Before they appear on your profile
  • Use strong passwords - Different for each platform
  • Enable 2-factor authentication - On all accounts

How Scammers Use Social Media

  • Gather personal info - For identity theft or targeted scams
  • Find family members - For grandparent scams
  • Learn your schedule - For burglaries
  • Build fake profiles - Using your photos for catfishing
  • Target you with scams - Based on your interests/posts
  • Social engineering - Answer security questions (pet names, schools)