Social media security

This document is for recommendations only.

Contents
Social media security .............................................................................................................................. 1
Facebook ............................................................................................................................................. 1
Privacy settings ............................................................................................................................... 1
Deactivate your account ................................................................................................................. 3
Delete your account ........................................................................................................................ 4
Twitter ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Tweets ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Direct messages .............................................................................................................................. 4
Live video ........................................................................................................................................ 4
Discoverability and contacts ........................................................................................................... 4
Location........................................................................................................................................... 5

This document should be read in conjunction with the MOD guidance and the ‘Think before you
share’ campaign online.

- Using social media – a guide for military personnel

Facebook
You can run a security checkup on your Facebook account.

Privacy settings
It is recommended that you make your profile as private as possible. You can read more about
Facebook and your privacy on the Facebook website.

These settings will ensure your Facebook account is set to the maximum privacy but you can change
elements as you wish.

To change your privacy settings:

1. Click on the menu button at the bottom right of the Facebook app.
2. Scroll down and click on settings and privacy
3. Click settings
4. Scroll down to privacy and select privacy settings.

Your activity
Under your activity, ensure that the following are set:

Who can see your future posts? Friends

Limit who can see past posts Friends
Who can see the people, Pages and lists you follow? Friends
Under how people can find and contact you, ensure that the following are set:

Who can send you friend requests? Friends of friends

Who can see your friends list? Friends
Who can look you up using the email address you provided? Friends
Who can look you up using the phone number you provided? Friends
Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your Profile? No

Face recognition
To turn off face recognition:

1. Click on the menu button at the bottom right of the Facebook app.
2. Scroll down and click on settings and privacy
3. Click settings
4. Scroll down to privacy and select face recognition
5. Select do you want Facebook to be able to recognise you in photos and videos?
6. Select ‘no’

Timeline and tagging

To review your timeline and tagging settings:

1. Click on the menu button at the bottom right of the Facebook app.
2. Scroll down and click on settings and privacy
3. Click settings
4. Scroll down to privacy and select timeline and tagging

Under timeline ensure that the following are set:

Who can post on your timeline? Friends

Who can see what others post on your timeline? Friends

Under tagging ensure that the following are set:

Who can see posts that you’re tagged in on your timeline? Friends
When you’re tagged in a post, who do you want to add to the audience of the Only me
post if they can’t already see it?

Under review ensure that the following are set:

Review tags that people add to your posts before the tags appear on On
Facebook?
Review posts that you’re tagged in before the posts appear on your timeline? On

Public posts
To review your public posts settings:

1. Click on the menu button at the bottom right of the Facebook app.
2. Scroll down and click on settings and privacy
3. Click settings
4. Scroll down to privacy and select public posts
Ensure that the following are selected:

Who can follow me? Friends

Who can see followers on your timeline? Friends
Public posts comments Friends
Public profile info Friends

Blocking
You can review who you have previously blocked by:

1. Click on the menu button at the bottom right of the Facebook app.
2. Scroll down and click on settings and privacy
3. Click settings
4. Scroll down to privacy and select blocking

Location settings
To review your location settings:

1. Click on the menu button at the bottom right of the Facebook app.
2. Scroll down and click on settings and privacy
3. Click settings
4. Scroll down to privacy and select location

Location Never
Nearby friends Off
Find WiFi Off
Location history Off

Active status
You can review who can see when you are active by:

1. Click on the menu button at the bottom right of the Facebook app.
2. Scroll down and click on settings and privacy
3. Click settings
4. Scroll down to privacy and select active status
5. Switch to off

Deactivate your account

If you need to put your Facebook activity on hold, you can deactivate your account. This disables
your profile and removes your name and photos from most things you’ve shared.

Some information might still be visible to others, this includes:

- Your name in someone else’s friend list

- Messages you’ve exchanged with friends

To deactivate your account, go to settings and select Security and Login.

At the bottom of the list, choose deactivate and then follow the steps to confirm.
You can reactivate your account whenever you want by logging back into Facebook or when you use
your Facebook account to log in somewhere else. This means your Facebook profile will be
completely restored.

If you have trouble logging back in, visit the Login & Password section in the Facebook Help Centre
and choose I can’t log in.

Delete your account

If you decide to permanently delete your account instead of deactivating it, you won’t be able to
access it again. Your profile, photos, posts and everything else you have added will be permanently
deleted. You can download a copy of your information from Facebook using the Download Your
Information tool.

To delete your account:

1. Click on the menu button at the bottom right of the Facebook app.
2. Click settings and privacy
3. Click settings.
4. Scroll down to delete your account and information.
5. Click delete my account.

You can cancel the account deletion if it’s been less than 14 days. After 14 days all your information
will be deleted. To cancel the deletion log in and select cancel deletion.

Twitter
Twitter has fewer settings for privacy. These settings will ensure your Twitter account is set to the
maximum privacy but you can change elements as you wish.

To lock down your account using the mobile app:

1. Click on your profile picture on the top left to access the menu
2. Select settings and privacy
3. Select privacy and safety

Tweets
Protect your tweets On
Photo tagging Off

Direct messages
Receive messages from anyone Off
Quality filter N/A
Show read receipts Off

Live video
Connect to periscope Off

Discoverability and contacts

Let others find you by email Off
Let others find you by your phone Off
Sync address book contacts Off
Location
Precise location Disabled