The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Privacy Settings

With over 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook is still the largest social media platform in the world. As a result, ensuring your privacy on Facebook is more critical than ever. This guide will take you through the most important privacy settings on Facebook, helping you maintain control over your personal information and online presence.

Customize Your Profile’s Visibility

Facebook provides options for determining who can search for someone on Facebook. To access these settings, follow these steps:

1. Click on the down arrow in the top right corner of your Facebook homepage.
2. Select “Settings & Privacy.”
3. Choose “Settings.”
4. In the left sidebar, click on “Privacy.”

Here, you can manage settings such as who can see your future posts, your friends list, and your email and phone number.

Restrict Your Future Posts

To control the audience for your future posts, find the section labeled “Your Activity” and click on “Edit” next to “Who can see your future posts?” From here, you can select an audience, such as “Public,” “Friends,” or “Only Me.”

Manage Your Friends List Visibility

If you want to limit who can view your friends list, go to the section labeled “How People Find and Contact You.” Click “Edit” right next to “Who can see your friends list?” and select your preferred audience.

Secure Your Contact Information

To protect your email and phone number from public view, go to the “Your Information” section within the “Privacy” settings. Click “Edit” next to each piece of contact information and choose the desired audience.

Limit Access to Your Past Posts

To ensure your past posts are only visible to your selected audience, follow these steps:

1. In the “Privacy” settings, find the “Limit The Audience for Old Posts on Your Timeline” section.
2. Click “Limit Past Posts.”
3. A pop-up will appear, asking if you want to apply the changes. Click “Limit Past Posts” again.

Safeguarding Your Timeline and Tagging

Review Posts You’re Tagged In

To review posts and photos you’re tagged in before they appear on your timeline, enable Timeline Review:

1. In “Settings,” click “Timeline and Tagging” in the left sidebar.
2. Find “Timeline Review” and click “Edit” next to “Review posts you’re tagged in before the post appears on your timeline?”
3. Select “Enabled.”

Review Tags Added by Others

To review tags added by others to your posts before they appear, enable Tag Review:

1. In the “Timeline and Tagging” settings, find “Tagging” and click “Edit” next to “Review tags people add to your posts before the tags appear on Facebook?”
2. Select “Enabled.”

Controlling Ads and Third-Party Apps

Manage Ad Preferences

Facebook allows you to control the ads you see based on your interests and actions. To manage your ad preferences:

1. Click the downward arrow in the top right corner of your Facebook homepage.
2. Select “Settings & Privacy.”
3. Choose “Settings.”
4. In the left sidebar, click “Ads.”

Here, you can manage your ad preferences, adjust the information used for targeting, and enable or disable ads based on data from partners.

Review Third-Party App Permissions

To review and manage the information shared with third-party apps:

1. In “Settings,” click “Apps and Websites” in the left sidebar.
2. Review the apps connected to your account and click “View and Edit” to adjust the permissions for each app.

You can also remove apps by selecting them and clicking “Remove.”

Implementing Two-Factor Authentication

Enhance the security of your Facebook account by enabling two-factor authentication. This requires a second form of verification, such as a text message or authentication app, when logging in from an unrecognized device.

To enable two-factor authentication:

1. Click the downward arrow in the top right corner of your Facebook homepage.
2. Select “Settings & Privacy.”
3. Choose “Settings.”
4. In the left sidebar, click “Security and Login.”

Under “Two-Factor Authentication,” click “Edit” and follow the prompts to set up your preferred verification method.

Monitoring Your Login Activity

Keep track of your login activity to ensure no unauthorized access to your account. To view and manage your login history:

1. In the “Security and Login” settings, find the “Where You’re Logged In” section.
2. Review the list of active sessions and devices. If you notice any suspicious activity, click on the three dots to the right of the session and select “Not You?” or “Log Out.”

Managing Friend Requests and Messages

Filter Friend Requests

To manage who can send you friend requests, follow these steps:

1. In “Settings,” click “Privacy” in the left sidebar.
2. Find the section labeled “How People Find and Contact You” and click “Edit” next to “Who can send you friend requests?”
3. Choose your desired setting: “Everyone” or “Friends of Friends.”

Control Message Requests

To manage who can send you message requests on Facebook Messenger:

1. Open Facebook Messenger and click on your profile picture in the top left corner.
2. Click “Privacy.”
3. Scroll down to “Message Delivery” and click on “Message Requests” or “Filtered Requests” to adjust your preferences.

Conclusion

Maintaining your privacy on Facebook is crucial in today’s digital age. By following this comprehensive guide, you can ensure that your personal information, posts, and online interactions remain secure and within your control. Remember to always look at and update your privacy settings as needed to maintain the desired level of privacy.