1. Using a weak password - Avoid simple names or words you can find in a dictionary, even with numbers on the end. A password should have at least 8 characters. Mix upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, symbols, and insert numbers or symbols in the middle of a word.
2. Leaving your full birth date in your profile - It's an ideal target for identity thieves, who could use it to obtain more information about you and potentially gain access to your bank or credit card account. If you've already entered a birth date, go to your profile page, click on the info tab, then on Edit Information. Under the Basic Information section, choose to show only the month and day or no birthday at all.
3. Overlooking useful privacy controls - Restrict access to photos, birth date, religious views, and family information to only certain people or groups or block particular people from seeing them. Consider leaving out contact info, such as phone number and address.
4. Posting a child's name in photo tags or captions - If someone else does, delete it by clicking on the Remove Tag or ask them to remove the name.
5. Mentioning that you'll be away from home - Wait until you get home to tell about your vacation and be vague about the date of any trip.
6. Letting search engines find your private information - If you want to prevent strangers from accessing your page, go to the Search section of privacy controls and select Only Friends for search results. Be sure the box for public search results isn't checked.
7. Permitting kids to use social networking sites unsupervised.
Source: Consumer Reports
Sunday, June 20, 2010
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