This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Configuring Privacy Options
Facebook lets you configure a variety of options that affect your privacy on its site. You can control who sees the posts you make and the photos you upload, as well as manage the data that Facebook collects about you.
The majority of these privacy options are centralized on the Privacy Shortcuts page. You can configure these options from either the Facebook mobile app or, on your computer, the Facebook website.
Review Important Privacy Settings
You control your main privacy settings by conducting what Facebook calls a Privacy Checkup.
On the Facebook website, click the Quick Help icon on the toolbar and then click Privacy Checkup and proceed to step 3. Or…
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In the Facebook mobile app, tap the More icon, tap to expand the Settings & Privacy section, and then tap Privacy Shortcuts.
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The Privacy Shortcuts screen opens. Tap or click Review a Few Important Privacy Settings.
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In the mobile app, you’re prompted to start your Privacy Checkup. Tap Next.
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Tap or click the Privacy button to select who can see your next post.
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Select Public to let everyone on Facebook see the post.
Select Friends to make a post visible only to people on your friends list.
Select Friends Except and then select specific people or groups who you don’t want to see the post.
Tap See More on your mobile device to view more privacy options. (If necessary on the website, click More.)
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Select Specific Friends to show this post only to those friends you select.
Select Only Me to hide this post from everyone except yourself.
Select See All to share this post with a specific list of individuals.
In the mobile app, tap Done to return to the Your Next Post screen.
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Tap or click Next.
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The Your Profile Privacy screen opens. Tap or click the Privacy button next to each contact item to select who can see it—Public, Friends, Only Me, and so on. Select Only Me to hide this information from everyone else on Facebook.
Tap or click Next.
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The Your App Privacy screen opens. All the apps and websites you interact with are listed here. To remove any app or website, tap or click to select it then tap or click the Remove button.
Tap or click the Privacy button for any app or website to change who can see that item—Public, Friends, and so on. Tap or click Only Me to hide this item from everyone on Facebook.
Tap or click Next.
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Your Privacy Checkup is complete. Tap or click the Close button.
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Manage Your Location Settings
If you’re using the Facebook app on a mobile device, you can configure various settings related to how Facebook uses your current location. (These settings aren’t available if you’re using the Facebook website on your computer.)
From the Privacy Shortcuts screen, go to the Privacy section and tap Manage Your Location Settings.
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Tap Find Wi-Fi to receive a daily notification from a nearby public Wi-Fi hotspot when you’re away from home.
Tap Nearby Friends to let people you choose see you when you’re connected to a nearby Wi-Fi network or hotspot.
Tap Weather to receive daily weather updates in your News Feed. (Not available on iOS version.)
Tap Place Tips to receive information in your News Feed about nearby places. (Not available on iOS version.)
Tap “on” Location History to keep a history of where you’ve logged onto Facebook on your mobile devices.
Tap View Your Location History to view where you’ve recently logged onto Facebook.
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Control Facebook’s Face Recognition
Facebook likes to connect people with each other. This is often done via “tagging,” where one user can tag (“who are you with?”) another user in a status update or photo without asking the other person. When you’re tagged, you’re connected to that post or photo, whether you want to be or not—which can be an invasion of your privacy.
One of the ways that Facebook encourages tagging is by suggesting people to tag when someone posts a photo. Facebook does this via facial recognition technology; it compares a given photo with the millions of other photos uploaded to its site and tries to match a new face with one it already knows.
So if someone uploads a picture of someone who looks like you, Facebook suggests that you be tagged in that photo. That’s fine, unless that’s not really you—or if the photo is one you’d rather not be associated with. Fortunately, you can turn off these photo tag suggestions.
From the Privacy Shortcuts screen either in the mobile app or on the Facebook website, tap or click Control Face Recognition.
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Facial recognition is enabled by default. To turn it off, click or tap Do You Want Facebook to Be Able to Recognize You in Photos and Videos? and then select No.
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