For better or worse, social media is a major part of many of our lives. And since it’s here to stay, the best thing you can do is protect yourself when using apps like Facebook, TikTok, and Snapchat so that you don’t overshare to the point of leaving yourself vulnerable to hackers. From posting habits to things you share that are better left unshared, security experts say these common social media mistakes are putting your safety at risk. The good news is you can avoid these errors. Here’s what you need to know to keep yourself as safe as possible on social media.
Don’t Comment On Public Pages
It’s tempting to comment on public Facebook pages — whether you agree wholeheartedly with the post or want to combat its message. But Tech Expert Brad Hall, co-founder and CEO of SONU Sleep, advises exercising caution and restraint when it comes to public posts.
“Never comment on public Facebook posts or pages,” Hall says. “When you do, you’re giving the entire world access to your profile, regardless of your security settings. For malicious social media users, it takes a Google search to retrieve further information about you. Always keep your Facebook comments to the posts and pages of friends and family, where your profile is less likely to become visible to complete strangers.”
Don’t Share Your Location
One of the most common mistakes is sharing your location on your socials, according to Allan Givens, director of strategic marketing for YouNow. “This is especially a security hazard if your profile is public,” Givens says. “This can mean someone finding you that you may not want finding you. This can also be used to know when you are home or not thus indicating when your home is potentially vulnerable. If you want to tag where you have been, go for it (though keep in mind if you are showing a pattern of where you are online that can also be hazardous). Make it harder for would be robbers and stalkers by sharing less or sharing later.”
Don’t Share Personally Identifiable Information
Personally identifiable information (PII) is considered to be any data that could be used to identify you, either alone or in combination with other information available online, according to Robert Johansson, CEO & Tech Expert at imgkits. Whenever you are posting on social media, Johansson advises against EVER adding any of the following to your post or someone else’s”
- Your email address
- Driver’s license number
- Social Security number
- Your bank or credit card account information
- The number on the back of your passport
- Passwords and usernames
- Medical records
“You can use PII (personally identifiable information) to commit identity theft by combining publicly available information, such as your name or birth date, with PII in order to open new lines of credit, file taxes, steal government benefits and take control of your financial accounts,” Johansson says. “Additionally, scammers can use what they learn about you on social media to conduct social engineering attacks in order to steal even more personal information. This is why it's so risky to overshare on social media.”
Social media sites always pose risks to security, but the more steps you can take to protect your location and personal identity, the safer you’ll keep yourself.
