At the centre of the Cambridge Analytica scandal are shocking questions over fake news, data security and even dishonest methods used to influence election results.
The company is accused of harvesting data from Facebook profiles and targeting swing voters on behalf of the Trump campaign. But another major fallout of the scandal is a widespread distrust of Facebook by its users, who are now worried about how safe their data really is.
Backlash against the stalwart social networking site has seen users abandoning Facebook under the #DeleteFacebook movement, including founder of WhatsApp Brian Acton, while detailing their reasoning on other social media sites.
But if the thought of abandoning your account altogether is too hard to bear, all is not lost.
It is possible to tighten the reins on your personal data – and who has permission to access it – while continuing to enjoy the benefits of the site.
Follow these 3 little-known tips and tricks to check your security status:
- Check which apps have access to your data
Over the course of using countless websites, quizzes and apps, you have probably agreed to “Sign in with Facebook” on occasion – unwittingly handing over permission to access your data, whether it’s just your basic profile info, your location or even your entire friends list.
Go to “Settings” and then “Apps”, which shows you which apps you have logged into using Facebook. You can then delete individual apps, or change what they can see. Go to “Apps Others Use” to stop apps from seeing your friends’ data too.
If you’re really worried you can turn off the whole thing entirely on the “Apps, Websites and Plugins” tab – stopping your Facebook login from being used to log in to anything else.
- Set up Login Alerts
Login Alerts send you a notification and/or email every time your account is accessed from a new device or browser. If you’re worried about hackers stealing your login details and posting on your account, this is a great feature to activate.
Head to “Security” in the “Settings” menu to find this feature.
- Disable location services for Facebook
Ever visited a new destination only to have Facebook suggest a nearby restaurant or tourist attraction for you? That’s because Facebook harvests your location data and uses it to target advertising, enable certain features and suggest places to you.
If you don’t want Facebook to watch where you are, you can disable location services for Facebook on your phone itself. Go into the Location Services settings place, find Facebook and choose “Never” in the list.
Personal data needs to be more tightly controlled than ever, as the UK prepares to conform to the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Has your business reviewed the way it collects, stores and processes customer information in line with the new laws? If your business handles personal data, it’s worth making sure your business operations are protected with dedicated Cyber Liability insurance. Get in touch today for more information.
