If you post something on social media, you are directly giving part of your private information. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but it is something you should be aware of. In addition, many social media platforms are free to use content posted by users for all kinds of purposes, as long as this is described somewhere in the terms of use. For example, a social media platform can sell and send your data, and also apply data analyzes to it, therefore your private data is actually not that private anymore. Read all about privacy and social media in this dossier.
Protect your privacy on social media
To protect your privacy on social media, it is important that you first look at the conditions of the social media platform. Not every platform is even harmful to your privacy like the other. If you do use the social media platform, think carefully about what you post online. Uploaded photos may seem private, but this is often not the case. Statements, videos and other types of posts can also be removed, but have often never completely disappeared from the internet. Always check the privacy settings of your social media channels. Since the Facebook data scandal, Facebook has made a lot of tweaks to their privacy settings. Users have more insight into their data and can also modify and delete it. Always go through this before making intensive use of a social media platform. If you don’t want social media to know your IP address then you use A VPN like this you can mask your IP address.
Social media apps and consents
Many of today’s social media are available as apps on your smartphone and tablet. When you use the app for the first time, the app will ask for your permission to access files on your phone. Always pay attention to which files the app wants to receive. For example, some apps have nothing to do with your photos or location, but for unclear reasons they still want to have access to them. Don’t just allow this.