We spend a lot of time online nowadays. And that means our privacy is more important than ever. Whether it’s your favourite social media platform or a messaging app, pretty much every part of the internet can be a risky place for your personal info. Especially if you’re not careful. 

Sharing too much of it can lead to scams, identity theft and other nasty situations you really don’t want to end up in. So, to avoid that, we’ve put together some top tips for protecting your information on all the big platforms. Let’s dive in…

• Tweak the visibility of your profile

It’s pretty easy to control who sees your posts, friend list and any other info (like your contact details and relationship status etc). Head to your account settings, find the privacy section and choose what’s visible on your profile. Make sure that only your mates can see the important stuff. Otherwise, strangers might take advantage of it. 

• Manage your friend lists 

Create custom friend lists and pick and choose who can see that new holiday photo. This gives you way more control over who can view what and when. For instance, you might only want your family to see how your summer trip is going. And you may not want your boss to see that snap of you from your big night out…

• Restrict access from third-party apps

Be careful with any third-party apps that ask for access to your Facebook data. Some of these developers will misuse it, so double check that the app’s trustworthy before tapping yes. 

• Set your account to private

Insta lets you switch between having a public and private account. With a private account, only followers you’ve approved can see your posts. It’s a simple way to guarantee your selfies and pet pics are only looked at by people you trust.

• Manage tagged content 

Keep an eye on any photos and videos you’re tagged in. You can choose to manually approve any tags before they show up on your profile. This stops any unwanted – or potentially embarrassing – stuff from popping up on your feed. 

• Limit interactions from unknown users 

Go to your settings to restrict who can comment on your posts, send you direct messages and mention you in their stories. That way, you won’t get any spam from strangers. Or a boatload of potentially odd comments under your pics. 

• End-to-End encryption 

WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption switched on by default. That means only you and whoever you’re chatting with can read your messages. In terms of messaging apps, it’s got some of the most robust security out there. 

• Set privacy for ‘Last Seen’, your profile picture and status updates

You can control who can see your ‘Last Seen’, profile picture and status updates. This info is visible to everyone from the start, but you can restrict it to just your contacts if you want. You can even go as far as limiting it to just a few specific people too.  

• Switch to a private account

If your account is private, only the people you approve can follow you and view your content. It’s a good way to stop your videos from being watched by the wrong people. 

• Restrict comments and messages 

For example, you can make sure that friends are the only ones who can comment on your videos or send you messages. Meaning you won’t have any unwanted interactions with strangers.  

• Manage your data-sharing permissions 

TikTok collects a lot of data about its users. But you can go into your settings and tweak your data sharing permissions. This’ll reduce the amount of personal info that TikTok (and any of its partners) can access. 

• Think before posting

Before you press post, really think about whether you actually need to share it. Is it something you don’t mind being public? When in doubt, it’s better just to keep it to yourself. 

Don’t share any sensitive information, whether that’s your home address, phone number or important banking info. If you do, it might end up in the wrong hands. 

• Manage friend lists and privacy

Check through your friend lists and look at your current privacy settings. Remove anyone you don’t speak to anymore and tighten up those privacy controls. That way, you can limit exactly who can see all your posts. 

• Turn on two-factor authentication

This’ll add another layer of security to your accounts. So, even if someone gets hold of your password, they won’t be able to login without another form of verification. It’s better to be safe than sorry. 

Got any tips of your own for keeping your personal info safe online? Tell us all about them in the comments down below!