There are many social networks. To name a few, we can mention the main ones such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. In all of it we will be able share personal information and, sometimes, it can be excessive and result in a significant problem and that we must avoid for privacy.
Typical mistakes in social networks
If you’re present on social media, everything you share could end up in the wrong hands. If you also expose too much data, your privacy can be seriously compromised. They might know where you live, what your hobbies are, where you work, Pages you follow, or places you usually shop.
Exposing too much information
The main mistake is expose a lot of information on the Internet, on social networks. For example, posting posts where you show everything you do, where you work, where you live, where you move… All that information can end up in the wrong hands. For example, they might create a profile of you to send you targeted advertising.
Ideally, do not put more information than necessary. It is true that on many platforms you can put things like your email or phone number and make them appear public, but logically that is an error if we talk in terms of privacy. You could have problems.
Make your profiles public
Your social media profiles can be made public, which means anyone can access them, or made private so only your contacts can access them. The latter is ideal, if you want. maximize privacy. In case you leave your profiles open, public, they could know about you simply by entering.
A clear example is Facebook. If you have your profile open, anyone you don’t know could be seeing everything you post. I could see who your contacts are, what photos you upload, content you post, pages you follow…
accept any request
It is also a mistake to accept any friend request without really knowing who is behind that profile. Why is it a mistake? The main reason is that you may be adding bots without knowing it. They are fake profiles, which simply aim to spy on users and even launch attacks.
The ideal, in order to maintain privacy, is to have only known contacts. Especially, in profiles that you have closed you should avoid adding unknown accounts or bots, since your privacy would be exposed to those users.
Don’t review linked apps
This may not be a problem in the short term, but it may be in the future. To some social networks you can link certain apps and platforms. You can do it on Facebook, for example. You can even use the social network to log in faster on that other platform.
What happens if in the future there is a vulnerability? Your information could be exposed and they could even, in some cases, get into your account. Therefore, our advice is that you carefully review which applications you have linked and do not have more than you are really going to need.
Not protecting the account
Of course, another major mistake is not properly protecting your social media accounts. It is very important that you use a secure password. A good key is one that is totally random, unique, and of a suitable length so that it is very difficult for any intruder to guess.
You should also take into account the importance of protecting your devices, since you will indirectly be protecting your accounts. Install a good antivirus and always keep the system updated to correct any vulnerability.
In short, review all this to avoid problems and always maintain privacy when using social networks. Avoiding problems of this type is in your hand, but you need to take certain precautions and avoid unnecessary risks.
