Here are key settings you should review and adjust for more secure control over your account.
1. Who Can See Your Posts and Profile Information
Go to Settings > Privacy to adjust who can see your future posts, past posts, and personal information. Options include "Public," "Friends," "Only Me," or "Custom."
Limit Past Posts if you want to restrict old posts that were previously set to "Public" or "Friends of Friends."
2. Manage Your Profile Information Visibility
Go to Settings > Profile and Tagging to control who can post on your profile, who can see posts you're tagged in, and how tags are handled.
Set each profile item (e.g., birthdate, location, relationships) individually to "Friends," "Only Me," or "Custom."
3. Location Settings
Location Services on your device might track your physical location, which can then be used by Facebook.
Go to your device settings (for mobile users) to disable or restrict Facebook's location permissions.
4. Ad Preferences
Go to Settings > Ads > Ad Preferences to control the types of ads you see. Facebook uses your activities and profile data to personalize ads. You can restrict how Facebook uses your data for ads by adjusting preferences like "Data about your activity from partners" and "Audiencebased advertising."
5. Face Recognition
Go to Settings > Face Recognition to turn off face recognition. This limits Facebook's ability to recognize your face in photos and videos uploaded by others.
6. Who Can Look You Up
Go to Settings > Privacy > How People Find and Contact You to control who can search for you by your email address, phone number, and who can send you friend requests.
Consider limiting this to "Friends of Friends" or "Only Me."
7. App Permissions and ThirdParty Access
Go to Settings > Apps and Websites to review and remove apps or websites you've logged into using Facebook. These may have access to your profile info, so it’s good to periodically check and remove unused apps.
8. Control Your Activity Status
Go to Settings > Active Status to turn off the option that shows when you’re online. This keeps others from seeing when you’re active or recently active on Facebook.
9. TwoFactor Authentication (2FA)
Go to Settings > Security and Login > TwoFactor Authentication to add an extra layer of security by requiring a code sent to your phone or generated by an authentication app each time you log in from an unrecognized device.
10. Limit Tracking of Your OffFacebook Activity
Go to Settings > Your Facebook Information > OffFacebook Activity to see and manage how Facebook tracks your activity outside of the platform. You can clear your history here and limit future tracking.
These settings are essential for maintaining control over your Facebook presence and protecting your personal information.