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<p> For millions of people, Facebook is the Internet. Its apps, games, instant-messaging abilities and constant postings take care of all their needs.</p> <p> Yet many Facebook fanatics fail to realize how much <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/1723-id-protection-worth.html">information about themselves</a> they're giving away, and how easily unscrupulous app makers and identity thieves could exploit that data.</p> <p> Here are 11 things you should do (or not do) to protect your privacy on Facebook.</p>
<p> Users who insist on sharing some of their personal information should be sure to at least make their pages private so that only people they trust can see them.</p> <p> "Facebook privacy settings have multiple layers in them," said Steve Schwartz of Intersections Inc., a provider of consumer and corporate identity risk-management services based in Chantilly, Va. "You really have to go into the depths of Facebook to ensure that you've set it up so only people that you know and <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/1282-facebook-friend-anyone.html">have accepted as friends</a> are allowed to access your information."</p> <p> Tim Armstrong, a Boston-based malware researcher at the Russian security firm Kaspersky Labs, agrees.</p> <p> "The first thing everybody should do is visit the privacy settings," Armstrong said. "There's an awful lot of customizability in there that people don't take advantage of. You should really look at your account settings and your privacy settings and go through every single one.</p> <p> "You can control how <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/1045-facebook-if-i-die-app.html">apps</a> connect to your Facebook account and whether or not they can post things on your wall," Armstrong said. "You can set it up so if someone tags you on something, you have to approve it before it posts. That's the No. 1thing — just going through all the settings and seeing if they fit what you're doing."</p>
<p> Scammers might hack your friends' accounts and send enticing links that could lead you to an innocent-looking page, but could transmit <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/1268-facebook-blonde-zeus-malware.html">harmful malware to your computer</a> and allow the criminal access to your data, Schwartz said.</p> <p> "If a post from a friend looks odd, maybe you want to contact that person and ask, 'Did you just do this?'" Schwartz said.</p>
<p> "Be sure they understand what privacy means," Schwartz said. "Especially with <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/562-child-identity-theft-growing-problem.html">child identity theft</a> on the rise, it's really important that parents make sure that if they're setting up Facebook accounts for kids, they make it as private as possible."</p>
<p> "Use capitals, numbers, and, if possible, symbols, in <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/553-how-to-create-remember-super-secure-passwords.html">passwords</a> to make them harder to crack," Schwartz said.</p>
<p> "If you're on another machine, you want to be sure there are no cookies being saved and that there's no way for the information to be kept on the machine," Schwartz said. "If you're in an Internet café or a place where there's free Wi-Fi, Facebook offers HTTPS, so you can always go in through a <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/514-twitter-always-use-https-encryption-option.html">secure browser session</a>."</p>
<p> "When your anti-virus software tells you it needs to <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/584-best-way-avoid-virus-infection-update-software.html">update its definitions</a>, you have to do that," Schwartz said. "Be sure you have anti-spam software and anti-malware software, so that if someone does try to attack your computer through social media, you have something on your machine that can catch it and shut it down."</p>
<p> Be selective about who you have in your network. </p> <p> "Only accept <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/1563-facebook-android-malware.html">friend requests</a> if you're confident they are genuine," Schwartz said. </p>
<p> "Thieves could be patrolling your social network and use that information as an opportunity to <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/741-dont-tip-off-thieves-when-youre-out-of-town.html">target your home</a> while you’re away," Schwartz said.</p>
<p> Not all relationships end up happily ever after, and once you start <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/1224-divorcing-facebook-dating-passwords.html">sharing passwords</a> with friends, they can tap into basically anything you have that's private to you, according to Schwartz. </p>
<p> "While it may be tempting to just use the same password because it's easy to remember, <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/1551-default-passwords-change.html">changing your password</a> at least once a month can help minimize the risk that somebody can use your password to access your account," Schwartz said.</p>
<p> "We all love Farmville as much as the next person, but why give third-party developers and advertisers access to your profile if you don't have to?" Schwartz asked.</p> <p> "Throughout its history, Facebook has collected a lot more personal information," said Sarah Downey, an attorney and privacy analyst at Boston-based online-privacy provider Abine. "If you track the kinds of information that was public by default back when Facebook launched in 2004, things were mostly private by default.</p> <p> "But Facebook has now taken the stance that you want to <a href="http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/1455-google-facebook-respect-data-privacy-day.html">share everything by default</a>. So it all comes down to: If you're on Facebook, you are the product, not the customer."</p>
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