It is important to protect your information from random strangers. We post a lot of things on Facebook. We post personal information and pictures. Strangers can access this information and use it. These days there are people out there who cyberstalk. You might have posted your phone number or your e-mail. Strangers now have access to that information and are able to use it. They will also have access to pictures that you don't want strangers to see. Once the picture is posted on Facebook, people can save it on their hard drive and the picture is out there forever. Note how easily I obtained the pictures of the people on the photo below. Even if you delete anything you post, someone could have printed it or saved a print screen. Phishing is a very popular way of gaining information and committing computer crimes. Phishing involves sending links that are not real and making them appear like they are from a reputable company, like a bank. Facebook gives people the opportunity for crimes such as phishing. It is very important to be aware of sites that may randomly appear and not to enter any personal information on them or else they can use the information to steal money from you.
In what ways can you you protect your privacy on social networking sites, such as Facebook?
There are privacy settings for users to protect their profiles. These settings allow only your friends on Facebook to see your profile and anything you post on Facebook. The best way to protect yourself is to tweak these settings so that only friends may see your profile. If you don't want strangers to see your profile, then don't add strangers as friends on Facebook. Only accept friend requests from people that are your friends. Once you have changed your settings to allow only friends to view your profile, make sure you only accept friend requests from people you know and trust.
