On Facebook, for example, the largest social network in the world with more than 2,450 million registered users, all the functions related to privacy are piled up in the “Settings” tab found in each of the profiles. Generally, in a section located in the upper right. From there you can perform numerous tasks.

Put security measures in between

First of all, it is advisable to enter a robust password, which is difficult to discover (combine uppercase, lowercase, other characters, avoid personal data …) and, although it may be somewhat cumbersome, activate the two-step verification system. This way we will protect the personal account more.

It is also advisable to prevent the browser or device from saving the password. It is true that it is a comfortable measure, especially if you are going to enter several times a day, but you can put the information at risk. Likewise, it is convenient to consult the authorized devices, as well as activate the alert system in case of unrecognized logins.

Who can see what I publish?

Facebook leaves the possibility of deciding who we want to see our publications. It is an important measure that, however, many users have abandoned. It is possible that the reason is that “It is that I am nobody, nobody will care what I say.”

They do not usually worry, although it is interesting to explore this route to avoid leaking any publication that at some point you want to protect. Because you never know, especially if we are one of those people (or parents) who periodically upload images of our children. In short, there are many reasons to take a look at all the privacy options, which are quite broad.

For example, from the section “Privacy” users can decide ” Who do you want to see your publications “, something that we will find several possibilities (public, friends, specific friends, friends except or, the most extreme measure, only me). You can also “limit the recipients of your old posts in your biography”, although you cannot revoke this option once activated, so if you want to undo it, you will have to manage the privacy of each of the entries individually.

And if we tell you what friends we want?

Another of the most interesting measures that Facebook includes is the possibility of deciding which users can send us friend requests. There are users who use this social network as a personal community, only by putting in their network of contacts family and friends very close. To prevent anyone from gossiping our profile, it is important to look at least this section. In the menu, we can choose between «Everyone» or «Friends of Friends». It is assumed that users can delete contact requests in case the person is not interested.

This commitment also applies, although with more options, to the option “Who can see our contact list”. There are many users who are suspicious of giving this type of information, for personal reasons, with which it is possible to block this access to «Public», «Friends», «Friends except», «Concrete friends» or «Only me».

If what is intended is to be “invisible”, it is also important to activate the option that no one can search for you through the email address that was provided and that is associated with your profile. Here you have several options such as “Friends of friends”, which can be a good option. This also applies to the telephone number, if previously added. Among other elements that have been added over time is the possibility that search engines such as Google index your Facebook profile, something that is not recommended unless we gives it a professional use.

And the publications of others?

Facebook also has another dimension related to privacy and is in everything related to what your contacts do. Sometimes, maybe it does not happen so often, many of your funny friends usually post (and tag you) in images in which you may not get too favoured. We all live, especially when we are young, some moment of madness and debauchery that we want nobody to see.

Well, the social network allows you to decide, among other things, who can publish in your biography, who can see what others publish, who can see the publications in which they label you but, and most importantly, give approval and review When someone adds your name to an image. Similarly, you can disable the option to share your “story”, those ephemeral stories that have become more important in recent years. In the “Public publications” section, users can apply filters such as the possibility of deciding who we want to comment on our entries that we have qualified for everyone, which can also be useful if we do not want to get an unpleasant surprise.

Let’s toast the locks

For extreme cases, you can even “block” a person by simply adding their email address, blocking their messages and, beware, even invitations to certain applications or mobile games that occasionally flood our profiles. In addition to all this, the social network allows you to deactivate the facial recognition system applied to images. Under the name “Do you want Facebook to recognize you in images and videos?” We would have to say, emphatically, “No.”

Well, well, what about WhatsApp?

Although they are different worlds, the truth is that WhatsApp, if there is any that does not know, is a messaging application that belongs to the conglomerate of Facebook. The service, which has an encryption system for message transfers, also includes several privacy options that must be kept in mind. Thus, from the “Settings” section, which is usually found in the navigation menu at the bottom, you must access “Account”.

From here you can look at some determining aspects that include, in turn, two different options, “Privacy” and “Security.” In the first one, we can say if we want to see or not (“Nobody”, “My contacts” or “All”) the time of the last time connected. This is perhaps trivial information but for many people, it can generate controversy and discussion, especially between couples.

It is also advisable to decide who we want to see our profile picture. Many users add personal images in this space, but it can be seen by anyone who has our phone number. Can you imagine that we do not want to see that information a man from the parcel service that at some point we had to provide our phone? Well, you can also choose between several options (“Everyone”, “Nobody” or “My Contacts.” Something that also applies to both user information and “States”.
Also, read: How To Use One WhatsApp Account on Multiple Devices

The post How To Improve Your Privacy On Facebook And WhatsApp appeared first on Tech Today Info.

Disclosures such as PRISM or cases such as Cambridge Analytica have made us begin to be aware of the problems that loom over us if we do not begin to take care of what data we provide and demand our right to privacy. This problem is exacerbated in the Android environment, in which it is the almighty Google who manages every aspect of our device.

Abuse in data collection

Large companies such as Google have a huge capacity to capture data from their users, each of the data they capture may seem innocent, the problem is that all that data comes together to create a tremendously detailed profile of its users.

These types of profiles may seem useful at first sights, such as Google guessing where we want to go because we have taken a plane or train ticket and received the receipt in our Gmail mail. Or the recent ability to view our purchase history in our Google account. But the reality behind these data is that Google reads our emails and obtains personal information from them for later exploitation.

Everything is worse on Android

The ability to obtain data from Google skyrockets exponentially in the case of the Android ecosystem, since to all the previous data you can add our daily habits, places we visit, applications we use, … to the point where it becomes the Great brother of our lives.

As we have said before, this in itself is not a problem, that Google obtains that data does not imply that it uses it for anything other than its advertising profiles, but the mere existence of that data and the capacity they grant to a third party Whether it’s a Google employee or a hacker accessing our lives is something we should worry about. Someone who accesses Google data will know when we are at home, when we are at work or what trip we have planned.

Commitment between functionality and privacy

Getting rid of this surveillance completely in an Android environment is practically impossible, but it is possible to reduce the ability of Android to obtain data from our lives, for this it is possible to make a series of changes in our habits, each change will give us a degree of more privacy, it is up to each user to seek the compromise between security and privacy:

• Use an alternative search engine, there are search engines like DuckDuckGo that ensure you protect the privacy in the android, users who use them.
• Using another email, contacts or calendar provider, it is necessary to be aware that a free service will always get something in return.
• Do not link the phone with our real Google identity, if we use a second account for the Google phone you will not be able to link our data.
• Use a browser that does not save records and access the data via the web whenever possible, since applications run services that serve to record our activity.

Not everything is Google

As PRISM revealed, manufacturers introduce backdoors that are used by government agencies, this does not happen exclusively on our phones, but on the internet equipment of the internet provider. These internet providers also access the content of our communications. In both cases, it is advisable to use a good VPN connection to ensure the integrity of the data and prevent third parties from accessing its content.

Conclusions

For a while we have exchanged our privacy for the promise of a free service, users are increasingly aware that this data may pose a threat to their privacy and security. In the case of Google, the problem is worsened by its presence on Android, following the advice in this article we can reduce the footprint of data we leave on the Internet.

The post Privacy In The Android World appeared first on Tech Today Info.