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Secure Social Media Sharing
Social Media platforms have become an integral part of our lives. Daily on mobiles, tablets, laptops, or PCs, we update status, share links, content, images or videos, give consent in the form of likes, comments or re-shares to followers. Almost everybody knows about sites like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube, Mix, Google+, Chatwoo, and Pinterest. From individuals to businesses everybody uses them for their purpose and networking.
Individuals share their social id's and connect with other individuals. They share much in comparison to explore, hence wary not to share much of personal information which cybercriminals can use to exploit. As with media the news undergoes through various hands, checked, edited and then finally go to print for further dissemination to the public. Same way, double-check what you are going to share, what would it its impact? Is it relevant and of interest to others? Answer yourself to a lot of such questions and then decide to share.
Although the recent European Union (EU) right to be forgotten legislation is there, it does not provide you with absolute privacy. The business companies keep an eagle's eye on what you are sharing to research your interest and of others networked with you. Further, use the same information to launch their advertisement campaigns, push advertisements deliberately to you. The much bigger problem arises when cybercriminals or hackers use the same information to do social engineering, hacking or other malicious activities.
Most businesses ask their employees to keep personal id's separate from business ids. As they are afraid, that inadvertently, employees may leak business secrets, which rivals business can use to make gains. When you read, you enhance your knowledge and when you share you reveal what you know. Sometimes, it's more dangerous to tell, that is why almost everybody advises choosing right thoughtful words before publicly sharing them.
Shared Information Analysis – Secure Social Media Sharing
Name, date of birth, preferences, likes-dislikes, address, working place, school-college information, friend's list places visited in the past, lifestyle, interest, religion, any political connection, family members details, habits.
Is anything left?
Your life is like an open book on social media platform, you have almost shared everything. Then why to blame identity thieves? Businesses don't need to follow you, inadvertently you are telling them your needs or requirements. Most people don't like to talk about themselves, then what happens to them on socials media? Why not put effort into thought about what to post to save you more future trouble, rest it is easy to share the same on a platform.
A question arises on social media a private sharing platform or public sharing? Make a difference clear between what's your private or public.
Make Social Media Private – Secure Social Media Sharing
- Privacy and Security Settings: Control who can see your posts. Keep information private or setting it viewable by friends only or make them hidden. Social media platform does not force to provide each of the data, hence it is genuine if most the sections are empty, don't try to fill them with bogus information.
- Use Original Photograph: If you are not fake, then why to use a fake photograph.
- Vigilant and Sceptical in Accepting Friends Request: Don't accept the friend's request from the person's you don't know. If they are second or third level degree connections, check appropriately for their validity. Increasing the number of friends won't help as the social media platform team regularly target fake profiles and those who do not follow their terms and policies. A large number of the friend list may make the platform team suspicious about the profile activity, and in a probe, if anything found not according to a system, the would immediately shut down without any intimation. Let's go genuine with a small number of connections.
- Don't share anything inappropriate, fake or anything for which you are not confirmed. A legal action can be taken against you if you do so. Respect others differences, be tolerant and open-minded, maybe your posts makes others uncomfortable.
- Take Action: Remove the contact if it is harassing or threatening and report to the site administrator.