Tips To Remember While Using Social Media

Social media platforms are prevalent nowadays, and have connected us in ways we could never have imagined. We share information and updates instantaneously with the networks of connections we’ve built, and are subsequently flooded with updates from those same networks. While sharing information in this manner is advantageous for many reasons, it brings many risks along with it.

With each passing day, social media plays a greater role in our lives. That is why privacy on social media has become really important. With a little bit of knowledge and a small dose of caution you can enjoy all the benefits of social media with few of the risks. Here are some privacy concerns you should watch out for-

1. Account hacking and Impersonation

Increasingly, spammers, hackers, and other online criminals are targeting social networks. A compromised social media account makes for an appealing target: if they can get into your Facebook or Twitter account, they can impersonate you.

Why are these hackers interested in your social media accounts? Because it’s a much more effective way to spread viruses, malware, and scams than more traditional email spam. People tend to trust messages they get from their social media friends. They are more likely to click links without thinking twice, which can then infect their computers.

Even worse than malware is when cybercriminals use social media for identity theft. Our private social profiles contain a wealth of personal information, which can be leveraged to open credit card accounts in your name or otherwise abuse your digital identity.

2. Stalking and harassment

Not all social media privacy threats come from strangers. Sometimes, people in your life turn out to be less than friendly. Online stalking and cyberbullying have become very well-known threats, and social media makes them very easy to perpetrate.

3. Being compelled to turn over passwords

There are situations where you may be asked to turn over access to your social media accounts. One of the most common is upon starting a new job. There has been a growing trend toward employers asking for access to social media accounts, to ensure that employees aren’t sharing confidential information or trade secrets.

There have been a number of efforts at the state level to prevent companies from requesting this information. There were 39 state bills targeting this behavior. The vast majority of them have failed.

As people increase the amount of information they share on social media websites, the need for heightened security and privacy controls also increases. The potential for abuses and privacy violations is just too high when employers have access to an individual’s social media accounts.

4. Walking a fine line between effective marketing and privacy intrusion

Facebook and other social media companies are trying to adapt, but there are conflicting interests between serving their paying advertising customers and their social media users. Balancing the needs of both is difficult to do, even when there isn’t a financial incentive in place. As a result, it is likely that we will continue to see increased attempts at information gathering and privacy intrusions for the purposes of targeted marketing.

5. The privacy downside of location-based services

Most of today’s social media users don’t access the services on a traditional computer, they do it on their smartphones. As social media continues to take advantage of mobile devices and location-based services, the potential for privacy and security threats increases. In fact, most people’s smartphones automatically collect location data continuously, and social media apps are some of the heaviest users of this data.

There are more than a few examples of people being targeted by thieves or stalkers due to geo-location data automatically shared by their social media apps.

By: Priya Agarwal