Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 2 billion monthly active users. While it allows us to easily connect with friends and family, share life events, and find communities, it also requires us to be mindful of our privacy and security settings. With so much personal information housed in one place, it’s important to lock down your Facebook account to prevent compromises. Fortunately, Facebook provides robust privacy and security controls that allow you to customize exactly who sees what information, and how they can interact with you. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the steps to enable the strongest security settings on your Facebook account.
Two-Factor Authentication
The first thing you should do is enable two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA adds an extra layer of security beyond just a password, by requiring you to provide a randomly generated access code from your phone whenever you log in. Here’s how to set it up:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and go to “Settings”.
- Click on “Security and Login” in the left sidebar.
- Under “Use two-factor authentication”, click “Edit”.
- Select “Set up two-factor authentication”.
- Choose to receive your authentication code by text message or app.
- Enter your phone number and click “Continue”.
- Enter the confirmation code sent to your phone number.
- From now on, you’ll need to enter both your Facebook password and the code sent to your phone to log in.
Enabling 2FA prevents anyone else from logging into your account even if they have your password.
Login Approvals
You should also enable login approvals, which is an enhanced form of 2FA. This requires you to recognize a prompt of your previous logins whenever you try to access your account from a new device. Here’s how to turn it on:
- Go to “Security and Login” settings.
- Under “Use two-factor authentication”, click “Edit”.
- Toggle “Require codes to login from new browsers” to the On position.
- Toggle “Get alerts about unrecognized logins” to the On position.
With login approvals, you’ll be asked to confirm any new device or browser that attempts to access your account. This prevents hackers from logging in even if they have your password.
App Passwords
If you want to use third-party apps that integrate with Facebook, you should generate special app passwords instead of using your regular Facebook login. Here’s how:
- Go to “Security and Login” settings.
- Below “Use two-factor authentication”, click “App Passwords”.
- Select “Generate App Passwords”.
- Give the app a name and click “Generate”.
- Enter the app password when configuring the third-party app.
This ensures the third-party apps don’t have access to your regular Facebook login.
Secure Browsing
You should enable Facebook’s secure browsing feature, which checks web links posted by others for threats:
- Go to “Security and Login” settings.
- Under “Protect your account”, toggle “Get alerts about suspected hacking” to the On position.
- Toggle “Use secure browsing” to the On position.
This provides an extra layer of protection when clicking links from others.
Login Notifications
It’s important to keep track of devices and sessions that are actively logged into your Facebook account. Here’s how to get notified:
- Go to “Security and Login” settings.
- Under “Active Sessions”, click “Edit”.
- Toggle “Get alerts when your account is logged in from a new device or browser” to the On position.
You’ll now get notifications whenever your account is accessed from any new device or browser.
Trusted Contacts
Add trusted friends and family as your Facebook trusted contacts. You can have them assist with account recovery if you ever get locked out:
- Go to “Security and Login” settings.
- Under “Use two-factor authentication”, click “Edit”.
- Click “Edit” next to “Trusted Contacts”.
- Type in the names of the trusted contacts you want to add.
- They’ll get a notification to confirm being added as a trusted contact.
Having trusted contacts adds another backup to restore access to your account if needed.
Login History
Routinely check your login history to detect any unknown sessions:
- Go to “Security and Login” settings.
- Scroll down to “Where You’re Logged In”.
- Review the list of current and past sessions.
- Remove any unknown logins by clicking “Not You?”.
Monitoring your login history allows you to spot unauthorized access attempts.
Legacy Contact
Designate a legacy contact who can eventually manage your account if it gets memorialized.
- Go to “Settings and Privacy” settings.
- Click on “Memorialization Settings”.
- Click “Add Legacy Contact” and enter the name.
- Have that person confirm the legacy contact request.
Having a designated legacy contact makes account management straightforward if anything were to happen in the future.
Privacy Settings
Adjust your privacy settings to limit what people who aren’t your friends can see:
- Go to “Settings and Privacy” settings.
- Click on “Privacy Settings”.
- Under “Privacy”, click “Edit” next to “Who can see your future posts?”.
- Select “Friends” so only friends see future posts by default.
- Customize any other privacy settings as you see fit.
Locking down your privacy settings prevents random people from accessing your info and posts.
Limit Old Posts
Limit visibility on older posts if needed:
- Go to your profile and click on “Posts”.
- For any post you want to limit, click on the three dots in the upper right corner.
- Select “Edit audience” and change it to “Friends” or a custom group.
- Click “Confirm” to apply the new visibility.
This allows you to retroactively lock down older content.
Remove Apps
Delete any unused apps connected to your Facebook account:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and go to “Settings”.
- Click on “Apps and Websites” in the left sidebar.
- Click on “Logged in with Facebook”.
- Locate any apps you no longer use and click “Remove”.
Removing unused apps tightens your security footprint.
Ads Settings
Manage your ad preferences for better privacy:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and go to “Settings”.
- Click on “Ads” in the left sidebar.
- Under “Ad settings”, click “Edit” next to “Info used to show you better ads”.
- Toggle off any data types you don’t want used for ad targeting.
- Consider toggling “Also use data from partners” to the Off position.
Limiting ad targeting reduces data collection from third parties.
Facial Recognition
Disable facial recognition which identifies you in photos:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and go to “Settings”.
- Click on “Face Recognition” in the left sidebar.
- Toggle “Do you want Facebook to be able to recognize you in photos and videos?” to the Off position.
This prevents Facebook from applying facial recognition technology.
Location Services
Manage location services for more control:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and go to “Settings”.
- Click on “Location” in the left sidebar.
- Toggle “Precise Location” to Never.
- Consider toggling “Location History” to the Off position.
Restricting access to your location data increases privacy.
uninstall Browser Add-ons & Plugins
Remove any unnecessary Facebook browser add-ons:
- Click the puzzle icon in Chrome or the three line “hamburger” icon in Firefox.
- Select “Add-ons” or “Extensions”.
- Remove any unnecessary Facebook add-ons.
Keeping only essential add-ons reduces your attack surface.
Conclusion
By implementing these tips, you can significantly lock down your Facebook security and better protect your personal information. The key takeaways include:
- Enable two-factor authentication
- Turn on login approvals
- Use app passwords
- Activate secure browsing
- Get login notifications
- Add trusted contacts
- Check login history
- Assign a legacy contact
- Tighten privacy settings
- Limit old post visibility
- Remove unused apps
- Manage ad preferences
- Disable facial recognition
- Restrict location services
- Uninstall unnecessary browser add-ons
Following these best practices makes it much harder for anyone to access your account without authorization. Your Facebook presence can remain vibrant and active, without sacrificing your privacy and security.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I delete Facebook?
Deleting Facebook is an extreme measure that prevents you from accessing the platform entirely. A better approach is to use all the available privacy and security controls to manage your settings, rather than abandoning your account completely.
Can someone hack my Facebook?
It is possible for hackers to compromise Facebook accounts, usually through phishing, malware on your device, password breaches, or if you use weak credentials. However, enabling all the recommended security settings makes it extremely difficult for anyone to hack your account.
Is two-factor authentication mandatory?
Two-factor authentication is optional, but highly recommended. Adding an extra login step prevents most unauthorized access attempts, even if your password is compromised.
Can I remove old Facebook posts?
Yes, you can delete individual Facebook posts or batches of posts from your timeline. Just go to your profile page, select the posts you want removed, and delete them. You can also limit visibility of old posts to friends only.
Should I be concerned about facial recognition?
Facebook’s facial recognition uses AI to identify people in photos and videos. Some may find this creepy or an invasion of privacy. You can disable it in your settings if you are uncomfortable with this feature.
How often should I review security settings?
It’s a good idea to review your core Facebook security settings on a regular basis, perhaps every few months. Scrutinize your login history, trusted contacts, privacy settings, app connections, etc. to ensure no unauthorized changes occurred.
Can I fully protect my privacy on Facebook?
Facebook will always have some visibility into your personal data and online activities when you use their platform. However, the privacy settings do allow you to limit sharing in many ways. While not completely private, you can still selectively share information.
What’s the benefit of app passwords?
App passwords allow third-party apps to integrate with your Facebook account without actually having access to your main login credentials. This provides an added layer of security.
Should I delete the Facebook app from my phone?
Some people choose to delete the Facebook app from their smartphones for privacy reasons, accessing the service through the mobile browser instead. This prevents Facebook from collecting usage data and location information.