However, with the rise of digital culture and social sharing, information traditionally shared between friends – such as relationship status, personal photographs, birthdays and even cell phone numbers – can be inadvertently accessible to anyone with a bit of Google search know-how.
For many people, social networking has become a normalized part of social life. As the most established and widely used social networking site, Facebook contains ‘years of details’ about its users’ lives.
The consequences of this information being public can range from anything as serious as identity theft, to making those photos from your friend’s bachelorette party available to prospective employers.
Studies have shown that although 92% of internet users worry about their online privacy, only 29% have taken steps to change their privacy settings to ensure greater protection on social networking sites.
The fact that this information isn’t automatically private doesn’t mean that Facebook doesn’t offer users the option to be selective about the information they share publicly, it’s just up to the user to activate these features for themselves.
Being aware of your privacy settings is empowering in a number of ways. Firstly, you can selectively share positive information about yourself on your public profile. For example, it might be useful to share a piece of work that you’re proud of publicly, but keep controversial political opinions for friends only.
Secondly, you reduce the risk of your account being compromised and your personal information being exploited.
With this in mind, on Safer Internet Day, we show you how to customize your Facebook privacy settings.
http://www.welivesecurity.com/2016/02/09/stay-safe-facebook-cheat-sheet/