Social Media Privacy Checklist

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)