Think Before You Provide Personal Information
This post is just a warning to those of you who maybe just getting into using social media for your online businesses. This is also a reminder for those of you already involved with social media. Be careful what you post that you wouldn't want the whole world to know.
DO NOT BELIEVE THE HYPE
Have you ever logged into Facebook, Twitter or some other social media network and were hit with a popup asking you for your phone number to make your account more secure? Giving them your phone number is NOT going to make your account more secure.
Do not believe the hype. Do not be fooled into giving your phone number or even your home address to any social media network. Even though you will be able to block anyone from seeing this information or contacting you, you cannot block the networks from using it.
Facebook in particular have been pushing hard to get its members to provide their phone numbers for what they called Two Factor Authentication (2FA) security. But there were other reasons they wanted your phone number, that they didn't want you to know.
According to an article in Tech Times earlier this year, Facebook was/is using those saved phone numbers to send targeted ads to those members. Now that might not seem so bad, but what really can be done with those phone numbers is fairly unethical.
By associating a phone number with a Facebook account, the default setting for the 2FA allows everyone, EVEN THOSE WITHOUT A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT, to pull up a Facebook profile based off a phone number they submitted.
This new Facebook privacy data security scandal was started by an investigation by Twitter owner Jeremy Burge. Like many of the other scandals Facebook has had recently, they only admit their fault once they are exposed. So what does that tell you about privacy?
YOUR PRIVACY IS NOT GUARANTEED
Facebook and any other social media network can take your private information and use it in more ways that benefit them and others while making you more exposed. If they were not exposed, Facebook would have kept giving access to your personal information.
I find it ironic and a bit uneasy that not only was this latest Facebook scandal outed by Twitter owner Jeremy Burge, but now as seen in the above image, Twitter is asking its members for their phone numbers for better security.
How does anyone know that Twitter or any other social media network will be more trustworthy with your private information? Since you have no real guarantee of your personal information remaining private, your best course of action is to not provide any info more than your email.
Because once you associate your social media profile with your private phone number and or address, you will lose your claim to privacy. If you are like me and you haven't given your phone number, DO NOT DO IT! If you have already, you may want to delete it.
The best course of action is to NEVER give a social media platform your private phone number or address. They do not need it for security when they have access to you through your email address. What are your thoughts about this topic? Leave them below.
Recent Comments
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I have not been on Facebook for that reason. The wife is on it and I keep getting reminded everyday that I am so glad that I am not caught up in all the bs.
Thanks for the heads up for all the people that do not have a clue of how vulnerable they are!
Zach
If it weren't for all of my family and friends being on FB I probably would have left a while ago. But it is a great way to get more traffic to my website by posting my links in targeted FB Groups. Avoiding the BS can be hard at times.
Thank you for this tried and true lesson regarding social media. I appreciate all of the tips and information that you gave. It will help me successfully surf the net much safer. Your article was well written and gave specific information as to why not to give personal information. Send some only on this for business purposes it's actually a very annoying place to be for me. Thank you for all of your help
Peace💗
You are welcome Sharon. Many people do not like using social media, but if you have an internet business, it is a necessary evil. :)
Thanks for reminding me to always keep my details safe, also this is helpful for people who don’t know that you don’t HAVE to give out this info to use social media👍🏾
You are welcome and yes, you DO NOT have to give them your phone number or personal information for security reasons. It is all BS.
Thank you so much! Awhile back I had given Facebook my number for their 2 part authorization thinking I was making my account more secure.
But over the last couple months I have been getting all kinds of ads texted to me and a huge increase in the number of sales calls. The timing is too big of a coincidence not to assume that Facebook could be the culprit.
Appreciate the info, and I'm deleting my number from my account!
Janelle
You are welcome. If I didn't have all my friends and family on FB I would have left it a while ago. I do not trust them as much as I used to in the beginning.
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Great information. Personally, I don't trust any social media to give any information. They all use it! Don't ever doubt it.
Joe
Thank you and I totally agree with you. This is why I have never and never will give out my phone number or personal info on social media.