Have you ever seen status updates from your friends, notifying you of where they were, what music they just listened to, and what article they just read? Moreover, are you one of those people who are unknowingly posting this information? If you do not want Facebook to share information about you at all, you lose access to all of them. You do this by turning off all apps in the Apps, Games and Websites section of your privacy settings.
If, however, you want to use apps but limit their functionality, you’re going to have to customize your privacy settings for each one. Although meticulously editing the privacy information in this section will keep most of your information safe from apps, other Facebook features will monitor your information and sometimes broadcast it to your friends and search engines…
Where You Were
The maps feature is something which you may have overlooked when you got the Timeline feature. It illustrates where you’ve been in photos, where you’ve checked in, and life events.
How to Remove Maps:
The maps section is one of 4 sections at the top of your profile. If you look to the right of the 4 sections there is a section, which appears to be blank, along with an arrow button. Click on that arrow button and you’ll be able to remove the maps from your favorites.
The maps will still appear if you go to your photos. You can make sure that your map is free of photo-based tagging by editing albums that you’ve created (both the albums themselves and the photos within them).
Where You Are Going
You are attending an event in your hometown and Facebook can use this information in its “sponsored stores” section, telling your friends what you like and where you’ve been. Unfortunately, you can’t do anything about this.
What You’re Reading
If you want to share something with your friends, wouldn’t you first want to make sure that it’s actually worth sharing? If you see an interesting article that was read by your friend on the Washington Post Social Reader and click the article, you’ll see this page…
Unfortunately, most users click the very visible “Okay, Read Article” button and forget to change the “Public” to “Only Me” option, which will keep you from sharing articles as you read them.
Who You Stalk
Although Facebook will never let you know who is looking at your profile, Facebook still keeps track of profiles which you frequently visit. This is why some people are often in your newsfeed, apps, and/or advertisements, while others are rarely seen.
Where You Regularly Run
RunKeeper is an app which you can integrate with Facebook. However, just because you are making everything private on Google, does not mean that the app itself is doing its job. A lot of RunKeeper’s users are pointed out that their name, exact routes, times, and distances are being indexed by Google. Although RunKeeper fixed the problem, it still indexes results for users which don’t know of the issue.
The overarching point is that Facebook apps have privacy issues beyond Facebook sharing. Fitbit, another Facebook app, indexed your sexual activity in Google before media outlets started reporting the issue.
Nickolay Lamm is an internet marketing specialist who updates InventHelp Scam Watch.
Recommended Resources
BitDefender Safego is a Facebook application you can install that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams like this.
PRIVATE WiFi® is a Personal VPN that encrypts everything you send and receive. Don’t access Facebook from a public WiFi hotspot without it.
Do Not Track + is a FREE browser plugin created by Abine. This easy to install plugin keeps websites from tracking you. If you value your online privacy, then you should definitely take advantage of this free product.
Action Alert | Free Parental Control offers a 100% free Internet safety solution designed for parents. There is also a Maximum Protection option for parents that need a more advanced set of tools.