The Most Dangerous Facebook Action You Can Take

Avoid Facebook Applications Like The Plague

In a previous post we pointed out how Facebook has penetrated the lives of at least a third of the Trinidad and Tobago population. (Facebook invades Trinidad and Tobago) High usage does not mean that most users understand the dangers of subscribing to applications on Facebook. 

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Trinbagoians are the proverbial “babes” in the electronic woods.  Dangers lurk in seemingly innocent applications and games.  They appear so safe and “cute” that we may even invite our friends to participate thereby exponentially increasing its credibility and penetration. 

Hackers and spammers know this and rely on human nature to complete the loop of deception.  

Have you noticed that almost every application on Facebook requires you give permission to access your personal data before participating?  Your information includes one single piece of information that would allow access to much more than information on your Facebook account; your password.

It’s a fact of human nature; we are lazy.  We are all looking for the easiest, quickest and pain resistant way to do everything.  Some of us however, heed the advice of experts and take some very deliberate action to avoid future losses. 

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Most people use one password to access all their web assets.  It’s easier to remember and they never have to go through the trouble of retrieving it.  Prior to the emergence of social networks hackers and scammers had to spend thousands of hours developing programs that identified your password; now they get it just for the asking. 

Many of theses applications are legitimate but to be safe, you should establish a policy to refrain from using them.  The benefits far outweigh the risks. 

Here is an example of one such application, the original version may have been innocent enough but hackers are constantly improving their strategy and it has become easier to duplicate and modify software. 

Have you seen the application that says? 

 Your friend (Mary) just answered a question about you!

The question is usually one that the friend could not possibly answer about you, especially a “Facebook Friend” whose knowledge about you is limited.  Don’t go down that rabbit hole. 

If you do, you must first give access to your personal information where the developers can now access your: 

·         Name,

·         Profile picture,

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·         Networks,

·         User ID,

·         Friends  

·         Information you shared with anyone

You are also granting them permission to: 

·         Send you email ...

·         Post to your wall ... and ...

·         Access your data you or your friends post at any time

Add the fact that there is no way for you to unsubscribe and you will understand the extent of the problem. Visit the face book page “People Who Hate 21 Questions on Facebook” 1400 plus people cannot be wrong.

 

The point is that because a third of the Trinidad and Tobago population is actively using Facebook does not mean it is safe.  The best decision you could make is to resist invitations to access these games.  Your first and immediate benefit is that you save yourself tons of time.  More importantly, you will safeguard your information. 

Leave that to the people who think it takes to long to read an article like this.  They deserve it. 

If you are a parent, advise your child(ren), they can become the conduit for hackers to access your personal information.  Limit or better yet, eliminate the use of the Facebook applications.  Visis your Facebook privacy settings usually found in the dropdown box under your account and adjust your Facebook privacy settings immediately.

Be safe online, offline and stay blessed. 

Join me on BrotherKeepers on Facebook

Protect Your Facebook Privacy and Mine

I have just learned that starting today Facebook will begin to share your public contact and profile information with other sites your friends visit. In fact, even if you do not share your information your friends will be able to but there is something you can do. Here’s what Facebook says...

What your friends can share about you through applications and websites
When your friend visits a Facebook Platform application or website, they may want to share certain information to make the experience more social. For example, a greeting card application may use your birthday information to prompt your friend to send a card.

If your friend uses an application or website that you do not use, you can control certain types of information the application can access. Please note that applications will be able to access your Name, Profile Picture, Gender, as well as any information that is visible to Everyone. They will also be able to access your Connections, but you can limit what they see. In those cases, although the information is considered a Connection, you can control whether an application can access it.

You'll find a personal and social experience the moment you arrive on our select partner sites -- currently Microsoft Docs.com, Pandora, and Yelp. We're working closely with these partners in a pilot program so you can quickly connect with your friends and see relevant content on their sites. These sites personalize your experience using your public Facebook information.

When you arrive on these sites, you'll see a notification from Facebook at the top of the page.

You can easily opt-out of experiencing this on these sites by clicking "No Thanks" on the blue Facebook notification on the top of partner sites.

OK so there are two things you need to do to resolve this issue.

1. Go to Account > Privacy Settings> Applications and Websites > Instant Personalization > Edit Settings, and uncheck "Allow". While there check all your personal contact information and pay attention to what you share with everyone. Choose, friends of friends, only friends or only me. Only friends should share with friends.

2. Send this post to all the friends you have either by posting a comment here or cutting and pasting parts of this post so they get the message.

Do it today before you forget.

Be well.