Facebook Security

With many of our students belonging to Facebook and the heightened concerns over Facebook security (especially now Facebook has introduced facial recognition software) I though it appropriate to publish some information that may assist you in securing your Facebook site.

All Facebook settings I mention can be accessed via the Account Menu, which is located in the top-right corner of any Facebook screen, when you are logged in.  The two options I will be using are ‘Account Settings’ and ‘Primary Settings’.

1.    
Make sure Facebook is secure.  Facebook sends information by using HTTP protocol, which isn’t very safe.  Facebook’s login page uses HTTPS which is far more secure. You can change Facebook to use HTTPS for all information.  To do this, go to ‘Account Settings’, locate ‘Account Security’ on the main page and click change.  Make sure ‘Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) whenever possible’ is ticked.  In the same section, you can choose to be notified by email whenever you log into Facebook on a new computer, which is a useful way of keeping track if someone else manages to log into your account.

2.  

              Remove your page from search engines.  Because your Facebook page can contain a large amount of personal detail, you don’t want it readily available to Google or
              other  search engines. To make sure it isn’t automatically available go to ‘Account Settings’, 'Privacy', find the ‘Apps and Websites’ section in the bottom left hand corner and     
               click on ‘Edit your settings’.  At the bottom there’s a link that says ‘Public Search’, click ‘Edit Settings’ and make sure ‘Enable public search’ isn’t ticked.

3.      

              Control who can see what.  To set who can see your information go to ‘Privacy Settings’, ‘Sharing on Facebook’ and click ‘Customise Settings’ under your current settings. 
              For each kind of information you can share, Facebook lets you select whether you want that information available to Everyone, Friends, or Friends of friends.  Which option you
              choose is up to you, but be careful about the setting Everyone. ‘ Friends only’ is a safer choice as you have personally approved these people.

4.      

              Make sure friends can’t share your information.  Even when you’ve set your own privacy settings, people you’re friends with can still share information about you unless you
              disable that option.  Go to ‘Account Settings’, 'Privacy', 'Apps and Website', 'Edit your settings'.  In ‘Info accessible through your friends’ section, click ‘Edit Settings’.  The safest
              option is to deselect everything.  Click on ‘Save changes’ when you’re done.

5.      

              Disable ‘Instant Presonalization’.  This setting allows information about you and your friends to appear on other sites.  Many people find this a bit creepy.  To disable it, go to
              ‘Privacy’,  ‘Apps and Websites’,  ‘Edit your settings’.  In the ‘Instant Personalization’ section, click on the ‘Edit Setting’ button.  Facebook will pop up a box explaining the
               section, click on ‘close’.  Make sure that ‘ Enable instant personalization’ isn’t ticked.