STOP Data Leak! Fix-Up FaceBook

In Corporate Technology world, there is a term that is familiar to most computer professionals. It's called PII - Personally Identifiable Information. Any data that can distinguish one person from the other is considered PII. (If you are interested to know more about PII- visit goo.gl/U7nA2R ).

Most financial firms take great pain to hide PII information from being revealed even to their own staff. However, this may not be true for other firms. Rules of how companies handle PII information varies from company to company.

So the responsibility of protecting their own private data falls on the customer.

Here are some easy steps you can take to fix your Facebook profile from leaking information:

1. Edit your Facebook Profile TODAY! Click on your name on the top of the screen and click on "About".

Limit Access to Essential / Mandatory/ Required information: Facebook requires you to enter your birthday and year, phone number and some other essential information. For these sections, you have an "Edit" next to it. Click Edit and click on the little lock sign next to each of them. Click on the lock sign and change option to "only me". This will limit your information from being shared freely to the Public or your Friends.
Remove all Non Essential Information: Most of the other information requested by Facebook are non-essential. Remove all such information from your Profile. Facebook does not need to know your Dad, Mom or Cousin. Facebook does not need to know where you worked or where you've lived. While each of these little nuggets of information seem harmless when taken individually, it can paint a pretty good picture of who you are when it is analyzed by a data mining company like Cambridge Analytica.

2. Stop participating in Quizzes! On any given day, I see at least 15 quizzes that my friends have participated in. These days there are thousands of quizzes. However there are hidden dangers in these seemingly harmless, funny quizzes. Take a look at this article which explains the dangers: https://www.komando.com/tips/361184/read-this-before-you-take-a-facebook-quiz-again/all.

3. Hide "All" Feature

When you see an ad or a Quiz that your friend took, what stands out most is "Like Page". And so you innocently Like that page, not knowing the implications behind that simple click.

However, there is a little known feature called "Hide". You can click the little three dot button next to the Ad or Quiz and it will give you the option to Hide Ad or Hide All from that source. What that does is, almost like sending a Dislike signal to Facebook. You'll save yourself all Ads from that source and similar sources.