How To Protect Your Facebook Privacy

  1. The first thing you want to do is check and see what your privacy settings currently are. Log out of your Facebook if you were previously logged in and go to the Facebook homepage. Click on "Find Friends" at the bottom of the page.

  2. Once you've clicked on "Find Friends", the following page will show up. Where it says "Search for People", enter your name.

  3. Find your name and click on the picture.
     

    With Facebook's default settings, below is what someone who isn't friends with you or doesn't even have a Facebook account can see about you.

  4. Let's take a closer look at what others can see. People whom you don't know or who don't have Facebook can see what you post as your status, what others post on your wall, your information, your pictures, your notes, who are your Facebook friends, and what you "like". Although these are your default settings, these should really be altered.

  5. Now, log onto your Facebook and go to "Profile".
     

  6. Then, click on "Edit Profile".
     

  7. On the "Edit Profile" page:
     

    Change the birthday so that only the month and day are shown.

    Change your "Interested In" so that it is neither Women nor Men.

    Uncheck the box where it says, "Show my sex in my profile".

  8. Click on "Account" and click on "Edit Friends", the first menu option in the drop down menu.. The purpose here is to sort through your friend list and create groups of "close friends".

  9. Click on "Create a List" and the window below will appear. Now sort through your friends and choose which ones are your closer friends.

    Then click "Create List". Repeat this process as many times as needed.

  10. Now it's time to look over your privacy settings. Facebook has recently moved most of its privacy controls from the privacy settings page to your wall. The new controls are now in form of inline menu and can be found right next to the posts, photos, and tags. To manage your privacy using inline controls, use the dropdown menu (3) located just before the Post button to select the right audience.

    You can also use the ‘Who are you with’ (1) and ‘Where are you’ (2) controls before posting.

  11. There is still a Privacy Settings Page that has a group of general controls which allows you to configure how you connect with other peoples, what gets shared with apps, games and websites. To manage these settings, click on "Account" and click on “Privacy Settings”.

    Scroll down and select the “Friends” radio button from the ‘Control Your Default Privacy’ section.

  12. Scroll down further and click the “Edit Settings” button next to “How You Connect”. Here you can control how you connect with other people.

    Below is a suggested version of what your ‘How You Connect’ privacy settings should be. Click the “Done” button to close the dialog box.

  13. Next, click the “Edit Settings” button next to “How Tags Work”. Here you will be able to control what happens when friends tag you or your content.

    Click on the “edit” buttons, next to each sub control to manage different aspects of the Facebook tagging feature.

  14. Click the “Edit Settings” button next to “Apps and Websites” to control what information you share with apps, games, and websites.

    For "Apps you use", be sure that all of the apps that you actually use are listed. All of the other ones should be removed.

    For "How people bring your info to apps they use", click on "Edit settings", and be sure that all of the items listed are unchecked.

    To enable or disable the Instant personalization feature, click the “Edit Settings” button and take the appropriate action. When enabled, it shows relevant information about your friends   and helps you find content on other websites. Uncheck the “Enable instant personalization on partner website” checkbox to disable this feature.

    For "Public search", if you do not want your profile to appear on search engine's search results, make sure that the "Enable public search" button is unchecked.

  15. Click “Manage Past Post Visibility” to limit the audience for posts you shared with more than friends.

    Click “Limit Old Posts” to change audience type for all the contents that you have shared with more than your friends in the past.

    Click the Confirm button to proceed.

  16. At last, click the “Manage Block Lists” option to block unwanted users, app invites, event invites and applications.