Sharing important parts of your day or exciting events in your life online can be a great way to stay connected with others and keep in touch with friends or family you don’t see often. But there is an old saying – “the Internet never forgets” – which is especially true for social media if you’re not careful. Every picture uploaded, friend and personality followed, or passion shared on your profile is potentially a digital “breadcrumb”, and enough of them over time can create a trail leading to vulnerabilities in your digital security.
Most of us know not to give out sensitive information online – in an Interac survey, seven out of 10 respondents reported high levels of confidence in spotting suspicious interactions. However, many of those respondents may still have engaged in online habits and behaviours that made them vulnerable to fraud attempts in the first place without even being aware.
It’s not always easy to tell what is safe to post and what could be used as a breadcrumb in the future. This article will guide you through some simple steps you can take to help clean up any pieces of information you may not be aware you’re leaving behind.
By understanding and paying more attention to what you share, you can enjoy social media while staying safe and helping protect others along the way.
Stay secure at account sign-up
One of the first steps you can take to secure your data begins before you have an account or profile. The sign-up page of most social media sites will ask for important information such as your email address, phone number, or home address, and may ask for additional details like your occupation, interests, and a biography. Review what minimum information is necessary to create the account at first and consider providing only what is required (usually indicated by an asterisk next to the field). That way, there will be less information about you left behind.
Here are some other ways to increase your security when creating a new account:
- Username: In the same way that you should use different passwords for different sites, try mixing up and changing your username for each new site you sign up for.
- Email Address: Consider creating an alternate email address and using it when signing up for accounts on sites, services, apps, or message boards.
- Biography: For any site asking for a bio or description of your profile, don’t include any identifying information (such as your location).
After creating your new account or profile, review what options you are given for account privacy and security. Turn on options for multi-factor authentication, limiting profile visibility to the public, and excluding your profile from search functions, as these can all be powerful tools to further secure your data.
You likely have social media accounts you signed up for in the past, some of which you still use and others you may not. It’s worth taking a moment to review the information you added to those profiles and removing any unnecessary details you added when you first signed up. And when it becomes clear you aren’t using a site anymore, consider wiping the account of all identifying information or deleting it completely. If the information isn’t available, then it can’t be used against you.
Public and private sharing on social media
There are social media sites and accounts that have, by now, been active for over a decade or more. That adds up to an almost endless archive of posts about daily life, photos of friends and family, videos of birthdays and vacations, and geotagged restaurants, getaways, and events.
Long-term profiles provide all the breadcrumbs needed to build a bigger picture of your identity and your online and offline habits. Combine that with the fact that an Interac study found that nearly one in four Canadians polled are not scrutinizing the personal information they post, and you may begin to see how freely giving up your information gives fraudsters an advantage.
Scrutinizing what is okay to share online is going to be different for everyone, but there are some broad safety tips worth remembering. You probably already know the basics; don’t give your home address or phone number to strangers, don’t click on website links from a source you don’t know, and don’t post your credit card or other banking information for anyone to see.
But what about a post showing off your new car? Or a funny video of your pet with their name mentioned? Even a text-only post venting about your favorite café or a situation at work can provide details that when combined with others from your profile or posts, can be more revealing than you intended.
Photos and videos can be especially tricky, as what they capture in the background can give clues. If you tag everyone who appears in the photo/video or include a geotag, you may not be serving a breadcrumb, but a whole cake of information on a silver platter for anyone searching for more.
Before posting, take a moment to review, give it a second thought, and lean towards caution if you’re unsure. Retake that photo or edit the video if necessary. Check to see if the social media you’re using allows you to set limits on who can view your posts. And there’s always the option of sharing the important things to invite-only groups you set up together with friends or family.
Safeguarding your most sensitive data
So, let’s say someone is copying information you added on your profile and gathering all the breadcrumbs left behind in your posts. They have a lot of information about you now, but what exactly can they do with it?
One immediate consequence is knowing how to contact you, either by phone, email, or other online messaging. There are many types of fraud and scams that start with a simple message which can lead to identity theft or financial loss if you’re not careful.
With enough information, fraudsters can also impersonate people or places you trust, using that familiarity to lower your guard and trick you into engaging. Another Interac survey found that nearly four in 10 Canadians have encountered a scam where a fraudster used personal information to appear as a trusted source. This can look like someone you know messaging and asking you to click a strange link, an email from your workplace asking for important login details, or a location you frequent suddenly needing some new information from you.
Access to your most important and personal online accounts can also be compromised. Security questions, among the most popular method used by websites protect accounts, can be guessed if they are simple enough or can be addressed with publicly available information. Weak security questions combined with information gathered from your social media can result in losing control of accounts and the data saved within.
What makes a good security question?
What is your mother’s maiden name?
Weak: This is information someone could look up on social media or a government registry
What is the name of your pet?
Weak: Can be searched for and found on social media
What is your favourite book/movie/TV show?
Moderate: Can be found by combining separate pieces of information online
Where was your first big travel destination away from home?
Strong: A strong personal memory is ideal for secure answers
What was your childhood nickname?
Strong: Old personal details you remember but don’t often share work well for answers too
And while digital fraud and scams are the most common and visible ways information you share can be exploited, those same breadcrumbs can have real world consequences, allowing anyone to follow a trail back to where you work, live, or spend time. Remember: information you share publicly online should be the kind you would feel safe telling any new acquaintance.
Safety and security without the crumbs
It’s fun to stay engaged and be a part of the conversation, and social media is a vital professional tool for many. But everything we post, upload, or share online gets saved and can potentially fall into the wrong hands, so it’s important to know how that information could put us at risk.
Be proactive in cleaning up what you leave behind. Stay one step ahead by keeping personal details private as best you can, be aware of what you share, and use every combination of security you can including strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, and visibility limiting options where available.
Want to improve your online security even more? Check out our guide on spotting some of the latest tricky and trending digital scams for the year ahead.
