A few months back Facebook, modified security and privacy settings without any prior intimation nor taking into consideration the privacy concerns which were likely to arise due to these default settings.
Now once again, Facebook has modified the default Email ID to correspond to it own email id i.e. @facebook.com.
By default Facebook email ids are username@facebook.com, so how much time would it take to HARVEST email IDs and use them for other purposes? I wouldn’t be answering that question but instead would be providing you with screen-grabs of optimum settings a user can utilize.
Facebook Email : Click on – Profile | About | Contact Info | Edit
The Default Settings:
Modify this setting to : and do not forget to click on SAVE.
Due to this modification by Facebook, users are sure to miss quite a few emails which are being sent to your Facebook account. Why ? Well, Facebook has a strange way of segregating messages. Messages from unknown entity will straight-away land up in the “OTHER” folder. Since “Unread Count” is not displayed, you will have keep on checking “Messages” as well as “Other” folder.
A few other Account / Privacy Settings, for those, who are as paranoid as I am.
Subscriber Settings: Enabling this will make your Timeline and other information available to search engines. Some may argue about this, but when you visit weknowwhatyouredoing – a social networking privacy experiment by Callum Haywood, you would be more than surprised.
Advertisements: Whether we like them or we don’t, they are here to stay. The algorithm used by all Search Engines, Social networking sites and websites at large, is based on your own search criteria, message content, shared content etc. Instead of making the whole world, including your friends to know what you are upto – by looking at the content of your ads one may be able to decipher you online persona, hence better modify these settings.
Third Party Ads:
Sharing with your Friends:
Privacy Settings:
Every Section is important especially – Blocked People and Apps, use it as and when you like it.
How you Connect:
Timeline and Tagging: The importance is related to posts being made, it is better to restrict what comes in and what goes out.
The root of all evil – as far as I am concerned: Facebook Apps
Friends: Well, “Every Friend is Important”, however it is more important to segregate them into different groups, modify their access rights – which posts are visible to which group and think before you post/share/like any of the posts.
Some organizations will love to snoop into the “leaked data” which may affect your professional/personal life.
Breaking News , Shocking Video, OMG – these are few examples of the words which are commonly used by malware authors to hijack your accounts by creating posts. Be-aware and beware of these type of posts.
Data Retrieval: Facebook, stores quite a lot of information about you and the same is available for download. Many privacy enthusiasts are always interested in this data. Read the help section provided by Facebook for more details on how to access this feature.
Any new modifications by Facebook will be added in this same blog post.
To be continued….
