Trusting Companies With Your Data in the Digital Era

Increasingly, companies are coming under pressure for not being able to protect consumer data. Recently, news came to light that millions of Facebook user records are being used and sold to a third party company. Facebook has over 2.2 billion users and now many users have lost trust in the popular social media platform in the aftermath of this news. If you’re weary of how your account is protected, this month’s SANS institute newsletter highlights measures to consider if you’re worried about protecting your personal data via a communication template to use with internal employees. However, this information applies to anyone wondering what the issues and next steps to take are. While these steps are specific to Facebook, you may consider reviewing these items for other social networking sites as well.

• Delete or deactivate. If you’re concerned about the security of your account and no longer trust Facebook, you can take steps to delete or deactivate your account. If you delete your account, you may want to consider saving past activity to an archive as your information will be erased. If deactivating, you’ll have the option to reactive and restore past activity.
• Minimize apps and logins. If you install and connect third party apps through Facebook, those apps can collect your data too. Only install applications that are necessary to minimize the number of outside sources with access to your information. While logging into other websites through Facebook can simplify the number of accounts you have to keep track of, there is likely sharing going on between those websites and Facebook. Taking the extra step to make a new login can help to minimize info-sharing.
• Two-factor authentication. While not specific to Facebook, enabling two-factor authentication can help to further secure online accounts and protect your privacy.

Even if your data isn’t compromised now, you can never be too safe when it comes to protecting your personal information. Read the SANS newsletter for more information here: What to Communicate About Facebook.