Facebook and how to survive it.

Facebook probably knows more about you than you mum, or maybe even your wife/hubby. You have to remember it was set up for university students who's privacy was pretty much non existantant any way. Since then its snow balled. HR departments love it, you can find out more about a person form facebook than any interview.

Your relationships, photos taged with your name at parties your hobbies, organiseations your old school (great as its frequenlty uesed by banks as a security question).

Short Version

Remove Apps you don't use and don't sign up for crap.
Turn SSL (encryption) on.
Remove or hide personal data that's not important (date of birth, phone number, address).
Watch for scams (odd posts from mates, voyeristic links, celebrity scandal, promices of impossible services)
Location Services - Burglars charter and not to mention jealous pet/partner/employer...
Check your Privacy settings

DON'T RELY ON THIS, I am an ameteur
facebook redesigns all the time, every time they do your settings will be defaulted to insecure versions!

Here's some tips on how to use Facebook and at least reduce the potential damage to you. Remember if someone else puts up a photo of you a a party full of drugs and tags you in it, it is impossible for you to remove the photo, but you can remove the tag.

SSL Security

Facebook was the last major place I ever saw not to offer a secure login. In fact in a documentary I was invovled the white hat hacker got my password. This is no longer the case but one your logged in facebook reverts back to insecure mode. You have to manually force SSL (encryption and identification) on. Go to Account (top right), choose Account settings. Scroll down to the Account Security section there's a little link that says change which will show the settings. This will do you no harm, and will prevent ceratin forms of attack on places like wireless hotspots.

Scams

These are all to common on Facebook, if one of your mates puts a weird link up, that looks like something out of the oridinary - particularly if its promices to tell you "who's looking at your profile", or is something controversial, celebrity scandal or voyeristic its proablaby a scam. "Dad saw his daughter on facebook" or haven't seen it yet but I bet its out there "Bin Laden death pics". Nearly all of these are scams. If you see one of these links do not click it. If you do it will use the permissions you give it to read all your personal data, and hijack your wall to spread the link to your friends, or worse sign you up to premium rate phone services (remember facebook asked you for your mobile number?). If your curious Google the text of the link if its a scam the Google results page will tell you pretty quick - but remember if you click the links YOU ARE STILL LOGGED IN TO FACEBOOK, doesn't matter if you come in via google search - or facebook LOG OUT OF FACEBOOK before you explore the celebraty scandal.

Mobile Number

Don't give to facbook, every now and again facebook petulantly askes me for mine, I won't give it to them. They don't need it, your email address can't be charged money (not that I gave facebook my primary mail anyway). Your mobile number can very easily be signed up for a premium rate text message service.

Privacy Settings

This is a huge swamp of a setting. Unless you are running your facebook page as an ad agency, not a personal page, you do not want it set to Everyone, either Friends only or Friends of Friends, but remember some of your mates are dumb, computer neive or haven't read this, freinds of theirs could be ANYBODY. I use the custom box and choose - for instance my address (which I lied to facebook about anyway), and my date of Birth (also a lie) are ME ONLY, nobody can see them. There is no reason I can think of why facebook needs to know this, its an online system not a delivery service. This means nobody says Happy Birthday to me on Facebook, I can live with this, becasue when I ring up a buisness they will ask my date of birth to help prove I am who I say I am its acually me. I DO NOT put my date of brith online.

Personal Data

Facebook Networks are something nobody uses, they are a legacy from its university origins. Remember your School(s) are security questions on line and on the phone, if you are not activly using yor employer/eduction/hometown network - hell I know I don't! Delete them your real friends know this, your aquaitnances don't care, and a potential identity thief will love them.

Location

Facebook's location information (places) is slowly catching on, I do use it, with certain caveats. Keep an eye on it. I don't mind saying I'm in Darwin - but I do not want it saying where I am to the nearest millimeter. And remeber if your thowing a sicky and your collegues see "Is at Wembly Stadium" your going to be fired awful quick.

Deep in the Custom Privacy Settings I found this

This would allow SOMEONE else to say where you are!

Be careful with this, do not automate it! I'll laught my socks off when I hear a news story about someones wife who goes on facebook and sees "CEO Smith and Secretary Jones are both at Luxuary Hotel" . Make sure its not you. Remember you have facebook on your smartphone and it knows where you are, either by Cell Towers or by GPS or god forbid and you haven't unticked the right boxes above. Your friends will dob you in acedentally!

Apps

Facebook allows 3rd parties to write simple software addons for facebook. Most are utter shite, some are games or useful additions. When you signup for an app it alows the developer access to your data, your wall and so on. Usually you will use one of these apps once or twice and then forget about it. It will do no harm to go and clear out the dross. Facebook has made this tricky to find its at the Bottom left of the Privacy settings page. I have only Twitter, an integration app from my photo gallery software and a youtube app that's it