Social Media Security Checklist

Intro¶

Online communities have existed since the invention of the internet, and give people around the world the opportunity to connect, communicate and share. Although these networks are a great way to promote social interaction and bring people together, that have a dark side - there are some serious Privacy Concerns with Social Networking Services, and these social networking sites are owned by private corporations, and that they make their money by collecting data about individuals and selling that data on, often to third party advertisers. Secure your account, lock down your privacy settings, but know that even after doing so, all data intentionally and non-intentionally uploaded is effectively public. If possible, avoid using conventional social media networks.

Checklist¶

Essential Activities¶

• Secure Your Account
  Priority: Essential
  Use unique, strong passwords and always enable multi-factor authentication to prevent account takeovers. Social media progiles get stolen or taken over all too often.

• Check Privacy Settings
  Priority: Essential
  Most social networks allow you to control your privacy settings. Ensure that you are comfortable with what data you are currently exposing and to whom.

• Think of All Interactions as Public
  Priority: Essential
  Assume that your private content can be viewed by others. Before uploading, posting or commenting on anything, ask yourself "Would I mind if this was totally public?"

• Think of All Interactions as Permanent
  Priority: Essential
  Pretty much every post, comment, and photo is being continuously backed up by a myriad of third-party services, who archive this data and make it indexable and publicly available almost forever.

• Don't Reveal too Much
  Priority: Essential
  Avoid sharing details like birth dates or hometowns that can be used to personalize phishing scams. Profile information creates a goldmine of data for hackers.

• Be Carefult What You Upload
  Priority: Essential
  Status updates, comments, check-ins and media can unintentionally reveal a lot more than you intended. This is especially relevant to photos and videos, which may show things in the background.

• Don't Share Your E-mail of Phone Number
  Priority: Essential
  Posting your real email address or mobile number gives hackers, trolls, and spammers more ammunition to use against you, and can also allow separate aliases, profiles or data points to be connected.

• Don't Grant Unnecessary Permissions
  Priority: Essential
  Deny social media apps access to your contacts, call logs, and location if they aren't strictly required. By default, many popular social networking apps request access to unnecessary data.

• Be Careful of 3rd-Party Integrations
  Priority: Essential
  Avoid signing up for accounts using a Social Network login. Revoke access to social apps you no longer use.

• Avoid Publishing Geo Data while still Onsite
  Priority: Essential
  Wait until you have left a location (like a restaurant or airport) before sharing content that reveals where you are.

Advanced Activities¶

• Consider Using an Alias Persona
  Priority: Optional
  If you just want to read and do not intend on posting too much, consider using an alias name and false contact details.

• Avoid Social Media altogether
  Priority: Optional
  Social media is fundamentally un-private, so for maximum online security and privacy, avoid using any mainstream social networks.

Software Links¶

• Alternative Social Media
• Alternative Video Platforms
• Alternative Blogging Platforms
• News Readers and Aggregation