At Doyle Security, the safety of you and your family is our top priority. With social media playing such a huge role in our society today, online safety takes on a whole new meaning. You may be wondering if it’s safe for your family, especially your kids, to be active on social media. We’re here to help! Here are some important tips to help you keep your family safe on social media:
- Don’t over-share personal information. Although most social media channels ask you for your home address, birthday, phone number, and more when you sign up, giving this information can be very dangerous. Hackers and online criminals can easily find your most personal information, making you more susceptible to theft, burglary, identity theft, and much more.
- Don’t send money or share credit card numbers. “Friends” may not be who they say they are. Social networking sites make it very easy for someone to pretend to be someone else. Never send money or a credit card number to someone via a social networking site. You may think you’re talking to a friend or relative, when in fact you are giving your information to someone who has hacked into a friend or relative’s account.
- Don’t use location-based services. Location-based services can be one of the most dangerous features provided by social networking sites. Although it may be fun to share your location and what you’re doing with your friends, it can also increase your vulnerability to burglary, assault, or worse. Predators can use this tool to easily track your movements and figure out when you are alone or not at home.
- Utilize the privacy settings on all social networks you choose to join. The best privacy setting to use is “friends only,” which only allows people that you accept as your friend to view your information and the things that you choose to post.
- Don’t accept requests from people you do not know. Accepting only people that you actually know and trust is the perfect way to protect you and your family from criminals and other dangerous people.
- Think before you post. When discussing social media safety with your family, encourage them to think before they post. As a rule of thumb, if what they are about to post could put themselves or someone else in danger, they should not post it.
Social media is a great way to stay connected with family and friends, but make sure to arm your family with the knowledge they need to be safe online. Having an open and honest discussion with your family about social media safety can give you some much-needed peace of mind.
