Although it wasn’t designed as such, Facebook is a powerful caller ID service – it’s easy for anyone to paste a phone number into the search field and find the profile associated with it. The same can be done with email addresses. Change your privacy settings to prevent strangers from easily digging into your personal […]

Mobile apps often ask for many permissions, including access to your camera, contacts list and geolocation. Think twice before granting them, since some applications only want these abilities for data harvesting purposes. For example, it’s not usually necessary to give Facebook access to your location, or to let Instagram listen in on your microphone (unless […]

Facebook can be a useful platform for keeping in touch with friends and family. However, it collects immense data on its users, even when they leave the site. Consider installing a browser add-on like Facebook Container in Firefox to hide your web browsing details from Facebook and prevent targeted ads and suggestions.

If you have ever signed into a site using your Facebook, Google or Twitter account, then you have already shared some of your data with a third party. It’s a good idea to occasionally look at which services are connected to your social networks. Incidents such as the Cambridge Analytica leak illustrate the risks of […]

Have you ever seen an offer on Facebook for a program showing you who viewed your profile? Such functionality doesn’t exist, and if you try to download it you’ll probably get malware instead. Also watch out for links in Twitter Direct Messages and work-from-home schemes on LinkedIn.

You’ve probably seen it before, if only for a brief moment while installing an app or trying to use one of its video or photo features for the first time: a list of permissions the program wants from your device. Depending on the application, you may be asked to approve its access to your contacts, […]