“Kids, Adults and Computers at Hack4Kids” by Alexandre Dulaunoy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Nowadays there are many social networking users concerned about their privacy that has been increasing in the past couple of years. Data breaches have frightened many users, persuading them to reconsider their social network connections and the security of their personal information. According to the article “Key Social Media Privacy Issues for 2020”, in 2016, during the presidential election in the United States, some of the businesses used the personal identifiable information of more than 50 million people who use social networking (Facebook) to sway the election. This can be a good example that has adversely affected public trust, leaving many people who are using social networking questioning if they have lost control over their information. According to the Pew Trust survey, approximately 80 percent of those who are using social media are very concerned about companies and marketers accessing important information and utilizing their posts on social media (“Key Social Media Privacy Issues for 2020”). Because the amount of privacy concern is increasing, the law should have been pushed to be stricter. Even though there are a lot of concerns about using social media, they are widely used platforms and have millions of users worldwide who are still using such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and so on. As a result of what has been happening with the social media privacy issues and concerns, protecting the data and personal information of all users will require expert cybersecurity professional people. In this writing there will be good things that maintain security and privacy when using social networks.
One social media threat is data mining. What does it really mean? According to the author Chris Miller, “data mining in social media is the act of collecting user-generated information from social media platforms” (Miller). People attempt to have your information in many different ways. What happens during data mining is that everyone usually leaves their information like a password or a data trail behind on the internet. Sometimes, they would write their important note and stick it on their desk or on the computer at their workplace. Moreover, for those who are very new of social media when they start to join in a social network, they have to create a new social media account, that is the time that they have to provide their personal information that might include their name, birthdate, their geographic location, and other personal information that is required. All the information you have given can help you connect to the others and convince more customers for their business. On the other hand, in the article “Key Social Media Privacy Issues for 2020”, it stated that companies collect data on all users’ behaviors such as when, where, and who users interact with their platforms. Companies store and use all of this information to better target advertisements to their users. Users’ data is sometimes shared with third-party organizations without their knowledge or consent (“Key Social Media Privacy Issues for 2020”). The best thing that can help you avoid hackers is when you are creating your new social media account try not to give your real personal information.
Phishing is another type of social media threat. Based on the article, “What Is Phishing?”, “Phishing is an attempt by cybercriminals posing as legitimate institutions, usually via email, to obtain sensitive information from targeted individuals” (“What is Phishing?”). Phishing can happen via an email, a text message, or a phone call. Often phishers pretend to be from big companies. All the messages may trick the people they have sent to into sharing their personal information, their sensitive data, including passwords, bank account information, or credit card details. Phishing attacks frequently impact social media platforms. “A huge phishing attempt attacked Instagram users in August 2019, acting as a two-factor authentication system and directing visitors to a fake Instagram page,” (“New Instagram Phishing Scam Targets Users with Fake 2FA Codes”). (Explain more about this in a few sentences).
There are also privacy setups on social media networking sites. According to the article, “The Ultimate Guide on How to Manage Social Media Privacy Settings”, it is very important to check your privacy settings because the photos and all the contents that have been posted on social media platforms are not always secure. Documents can be downloaded for purposes such as identity theft, improper circulation, and other fraudulent activities. Therefore, it must learn and understand how to use the right privacy settings features provided by social media. Each social media platform which you are using should have their own privacy settings (“The Ultimate Guide on How to Manage Social Media Privacy Settings.”). (Add a few sentences afterwards that talk about why this information is important and relevant). For example, if you are using Facebook it allows you to into your personal account page in order to have your privacy set up by going into privacy tab then go to your profile and you will see the photo setting. You can then control who you want them to see your photos.
Moreover, the third idea of how users can maintain their privacy and security in social networks is safe social networking. The first thing that will be covered in this point is to be cautious on social network sites. You should be cautious about how much personal information you provide on social networking sites (“Best Practices: Safe Social Networking”). There can be a way for online criminals to get into your account by just clicking the forgotten password and the answer could be found in your profile or in one of your posts. There are a number of businesses using social networking sites like Facebook, in order to build their work relationships, find more consumerism and better market themselves. Sometimes you receive several messages and even links that may look like they come from your friends that can contain such harmful software or be part of a phishing attack that you would not expect (“Best Practices: Safe Social Networking”). If you are not sure if that is really from your friends or anyone, make sure to contact whoever sends you the links or emails just to clarify if that is really coming from them. Don’t click on the link or send them the information they are asking before you contact your friends to verify. The second is to manage your privacy setting. Every day when you share on social media, you never know who is attempting to break into your privacy. Before you use any social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, you better learn and understand how to use each privacy. Privacy and security are the main keys to keep away from all hackers. Make sure to use the privacy and security setting for each social media site you are using because it helps you to control who can see what posts you have and better manage your online experience. According to the article “Best Practices: Safe Social Networking”, if you are using Facebook make sure to select on the settings menu then select privacy to edit who can see your photos, activity and information. Select Apps and websites to control access to your Facebook account by applications and websites and block specific users who you feel are not safe about that person (“Best Practices: Safe Social Networking”). The last point is to protect your computer. This article states that if you want your computer to be safe from any hacker you should install Antivirus software then keep your operating system, web browser and other software current. The other thing is to use strong passwords and make sure your password is at least eight characters long and consists of some combination of letters, numbers, and special characters (“Best Practices: Safe Social Networking”).
In conclusion, privacy and security in social networking are the main things that all users should pay attention to before sharing any information on a post or giving it to the people. You will never know who are looking for an opportunity in order to have taken all of your privacy information to do something else. There are so many ways that people can do to have your information then be sure do not click on any website or links that you are not sure about. If you are on any social media platforms, you should have your privacy setting into a safe security so that you do not have to worry about anyone attempts to steal your documentation. Moreover, do not trust on anyone easily cause the one that you really trust can hurt you in any ways. Your computer is the other main key that need to be protected. Do not show any important notes like password on your computer. It will help protect your computer from hacker if you can have a strong password with different characters. One the other hand, your computer should be up to date and try to find any antivirus app to help protect it from any stealers. People are very smart to find things to steal other personal information so do not share your privacy documents with who you never know. If you do not keep your privacy and security in social networks safe then it will allow people who wants to access into your account, and this will cause you with a lot of trouble in the future.