Facebook has had it’s fair share of lawsuits and negative information pertaining to safety issues. The problem with facebook is that some people really just don’t get how to use it. The generation on Facebook spans from old to young but a lot of the users don’t understand that everything they post on the social media site can be viewed by anyone in the world. You can change your facebook privacy settings so only the people you add as your friends will be able to view this information, which is a smart idea if you really want to protect your privacy. Divulging too much personal information can really put your personal and families safety at risk. You must watch what you say as thieves and online predators will take advantage of the information you post and they can easily come and break into your house when you are on vacation or they can start stalking you or your children.
Personal Information
Never post personal information like your address, phone number, etc on Facebook. This leaves you open to identity theft and it also leaves you open to a lot of online predators. Children especially need to avoid sharing any personal information as it will allow child predators to easily find your kids, leading to a lot of concerns and possible child abuse or molestation.
Adding Friends
Everyone has a different definition of what a friend is and you need to avoid adding people you don’t know. Add only the people you actually know and don’t add strangers. It is likely that they are predators and people that will steal your identity or stalk you. Don’t give out your personal information to any strangers and never give out your credit card and other personal information. Children need to watch out who they add as other people they do know can sometimes be very malicious and children that already suffer with self esteem issues may find that a single comment can really hurt their self esteem even more.
Pictures
Only add a picture or two, don’t upload a complete photo album. Why is this? Predators know how to use pictures to find you and if they see a street, it won’t take long for them to identify it and to quickly find out where you live even if you aren’t adding other things to your facebook account like your address. The other thing that pictures can do is become used for nefarious reasons as well.
Account Information
There are some people that just love to trust others. A bank may have a facebook page but it doesn’t mean you should use this to post your checking or credit card information in a personal message as you think its your financial advisor asking you for this information to invest in new stocks and mutual funds. Every bank will tell you that they will never contact you via email and facebook for account information. Never believe any of the information that you get from bank’s online as they are usually internet scams.
Downloads
On facebook you will see a lot of quizzes and other things, which will always ask for permission to access your account. Do yourself a favor and avoid playing any of the games and quizzes as it is an easy way for person to gain access to your account.
When it comes to Facebook, use your better judgment and just use it for social reasons to talk to your friends. Come up with different names for your kids as a predator can find out their name and call them by this name if they see them walking home from school and so on. A lot of parents have started calling their kids superhero names and other things on Facebook to help protect their identity.