Using Facebook securely

Introduction
Changing your Profile
Search
News Feed and Mini-Feed
Getting Help

Introduction

Facebook is a social networking website that was created in 2004 for university students. Originally you needed a university based email account to join. Due to growing popularity of the site, Facebook expanded membership so that anyone can now join.

With Facebook's expansion came new security features in order to protect members and keep them safe. The following instructions explain how to use these new features to protect yourself.

Changing your Profile

By default, users within your networks and your friends can view your profile. It is recommended that you limit your profile to Only Friends to prevent other people on your networks from accessing your personal information.

To limit to Only Friends:

• Login to Facebook
• Click privacy in the top right corner of the page
• Click Profile
• Click the Basic tab
• For all settings, select Only Friends in all the drop-down boxes.
• Click Save Changes

• Click the Contact Information tab
• For all settings, select Only Friends in all drop-down boxes.
• Click Save Changes

Your profile is now protected from anyone who is not part of your Friends List.

Due to the diverse networks on Facebook, it is likely you will want to restrict individuals or groups of people from viewing certain parts of your profile. For example, university students should differentiate between friends, family and professors/employers. This is done through first creating, then modifying your Friend Lists.

To create a Friend List:

• Click the Friends tab on the top navigation bar
• A navigation pane will appear on the right hand side of the page titled Friend Lists
• Click on Make a New List

• Type a name for the new Friend List (e.g. family), and click Enter
• Type the name of a friend to be added to this group
• Select their name from the options below the text box

• Enter friends until the list is complete.

To restrict a friend or friend list from viewing an aspect of your profile:

• Click on Profile under your privacy settings
• Click the drop-down menu next to the aspect you want to restrict, and select Customize…

• Under Except these people enter the name of a friend or friend list

• Click Okay
• Click Save Changes

The friend list will now not be able to view this aspect of your profile.

It is recommended that you limit who can view your photos, videos and wall since some content may not be appropriate for everyone. Albums can be restricted on an individual basis.

Search

By default all users will be able to find you when they search since searching abilities are set to Everyone. It is recommended that you restrict your settings so you’re only searchable through your community of friends.

To limit your search settings to Friends of Friends:

• Click privacy in the top right corner of the page
• Click Search
• Under Search Visibility, select Friends of Friends from the drop-down box
• Unselect the In addition network options
• Under How Can People Contact You?, uncheck send you a message, poke you and view your friend list
• Click Save Changes

News Feed and Mini Feed

While you cannot completely turn these features off, you can limit the type of stories being published about yourself. By default, all stories of you are enabled, which means your actions on Facebook are recorded on your profile page and may appear on your friend’s home page.

To limit your news feed and mini feed:

• Click privacy in the top right corner of the page
• Click News Feed and Mini-Feed
• Under the Actions within Facebook tab, unclick actions you do not want to published

• Click Save Changes
• Under the Actions on External Websites tab, click Don’t allow any websites to send stories to my profile

• Click Save Changes

These stories will no longer be published in your news feed or the mini-feed.

News Feed and Mini-Feed also publish stories about your applications. By default, these stories are viewed by My Networks and Friends. It is recommended that you limit these settings to be viewed by Only Friends.

To limit your application news feed and mini feed:

• Click privacy in the top right corner of the page
• Click News Feed and Mini-Feed
• Under the Actions within Facebook tab, click Edit Applications

• Click Edit Settings for the application you want to change
• Select Only Friends from the drop-down box

• Click Save Changes

Getting Help

IT does not support Facebook.

For self-help on using Facebook, see the help page.