KEEP your privacy on social media networks strong

Don’t share private information like your full name and address

Keep your full name and address to yourself.

Same advice also applies to posting your children’s or grandchildren’s full names.

You shouldn’t share your personal information because you never know how a stalker or cybercriminal might use that information to their advantage.

Wiply community rules allow the use of virtual names to be used for your virtual world avatar as example.

In case of need, we will ask you to verify your identity, but your information will be keep protected and only for our eyes.

For instance, with a combination of your first name and last name, cybercriminals may be able to find out your email address or purchase your email address from the dark web.

With this information, they could create phishing email that could potentially lead to injecting malware and collecting data from your devices, because not all of us are expert informatic.

Remind the teens in your life to adopt the same practices, as they may be more likely to share personal information. Your kids may not be thinking about privacy in social media when giving their name and address, or other personal details, when entering an online contest. It’s a good idea to keep social media privacy top of mind.

Be careful about posting photos on social media sites

Think twice about posting photos.

Even if you do not publish a child’s name, you might give more information than you think in a ‘harmless’ photo.

Consider this example: You want to publish a digital photo of your child during a game.  If the photo contains the name of the school or gym, either on the clothes or in the background, an outsider will have little trouble tracing the location and identity of the child.

It is always better to blur or crop out these revealing details, if you know how.

Otherwise, it is better not to share it.

And what about that picture of your expensive new TV? Advertising its location could make your home a tempting target for thieves. When in doubt, just share your photos privately with a trusted few.

Adjust the social media platform’s privacy settings

Our social media platform has an easy process to control privacy settings. Before you share your post or photo, always be mindful of who can see, react, or comment.

Choose your level of privacy uploading your pics from the album module, it will give you more control. Create an album, restrict privacy and/or add a password to limit access to only who you want to see them.

Carefully decide whether you want your social media posts and pictures to be visible to everyone, only friends, or friends of friends, when reviewing your privacy settings for each platform.

You can also make a custom list for each post.

Tagging friends can be a lot of fun, but it is also a violation of their privacy.

You certainly don’t want to be tagged in something inappropriate, or unrelated to you, so your friends do too.

Always ask permission before tagging someone.

Always choose to check when someone else tags you in a post before it is published.

Remember, however, that even if you do not approve of the post being published on your social media page, it may still be visible on theirs.

Know what types of personal data social media sites store and share

When subscribing to a site, most users willingly provide their personal data such as name, gender, date of birth and e-mail address.

Some social media sites do not stop at this.

They collect other information, such as your IP address or your likes, shares, or comments.

Consider carefully what personal details you provide in your profile

Social networking sites may request additional information when registering.

It is often possible to include one’s hometown, schools attended and when, jobs (current and/or previous), political affiliations and general interests.

All this information can be stored and tracked.

Wiply allows you to restrict access to this information, so when you add it, check the various permissions.

Never leave sensitive information visible to everyone.

Don’t display the names of the people in your network

This is another important aspect of privacy on social media.

Even if you do not risk becoming a victim, your contacts may be at risk.

Spear-phishing, for instance, is a scam based on cybercriminals collecting personal information to send convincing e-mails, apparently from people known to the target.

Having access to the names of your connections, your friends may start receiving bogus e-mails from someone pretending to be you.

Avoid social media site posting regrets

It may happen that your employer, or the recruiter of the company to which you have just applied, examines your social media profile.

If you post opinions that your company does not like, such as talking about how much you dislike your boss, or opinions that may harm your professionalism or employability, then it is best to step away from the keyboard.

Once information is posted, it can spread.

Do not let what you share today backfire on you tomorrow.

Social media and networking sites can be a great way to stay in touch with old friends and help you make new ones, or to get that next important job.

Just keep the privacy curtains at the right level

Always log out when you’re done.

If you use a public computer, you must remember to always log off, but also log off from private devices from time to time.

Wiply allows you to keep your session open as long as your browser is open and has a limited time after which it will automatically disconnect you.

From the web portal, you can also click on the fingerprint icon in the top right-hand corner of the menu to lock your account, for instance if you have to be absent from your PC temporarily. The ‘screen saver’ will not allow ill-intentioned persons to ‘commandeer’ your profile.

The ‘screen saver’ helps ensure that other people do not ‘commandeer’ your social media profile and use it for dishonest purposes, such as editing your personal information or posting embarrassing or slanderous comments or, worse, changing your password and locking you out of your account completely.

Create strong, private passwords.

A strong password uses:

• a combination of words,
• numbers,
• upper and lower case letters and
• special characters

Easy enough for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess.

Wiply ‘forces’ users to create an effective and hard-to-detect password right from the start.

BUT here are some rules to follow very carefully:

Avoid common elements of passwords, such as birth dates, anniversaries and names of children or pets.

Keep passwords private by storing them or using a reliable password manager and never write them down on the device itself.

If you do, write them down in code so that only you know what they are for and where they are.