Facebook best practice Search settings
Facebook has provided users with powerful controls to protect themselves online, and it is up to individuals to check and ensure that appropriate settings are in place. Sophos has published recommendations for how to configure the settings for each of these privacy areas of Facebook.
Who can find me in search:
| Option | Sophos recommends | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| Allow anyone to see my public search listing | Be careful | If you only want people you know to know that you are on Facebook leave this option unselected. |
| Allow my public search listing to be indexed by external search engines | "No" | Sophos recommends that you disable this option. If it is enabled then it allows people using external search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN to find you on Facebook. There is no benefit to this, as you will only be linking up with people who are on Facebook. |
What can people do with my search results:
| Option | Sophos recommends | Why? |
|---|---|---|
| See your picture | Be careful | You will probably want to post a picture of yourself so people can tell you apart from the 190,000 other "John Smith"s online. However, be sure to choose a picture that you would not be embarrassed for a future employer to see. If it's not a picture you would be comfortable to share - don't use it online! |
| Send you a message | "No" | If you respond to a message sent to you by someone that you have not set up to be your friend then you are allowing them to view your profile information for a period of time. The more security conscious, therefore, would be wise to only allow their friends to send them a message them. |
| Poke you | "No" | It is questionable what advantage there is in allowing non-friends to "poke" you on Facebook. The danger is that by responding to the poke you will be allowing the other Facebook user to view your profile information for a period of time. For that reason, it is recommended to disable this option. |
| Add you as a friend | Be careful | If you want people to connect to you (rather than you with them) then you will need to leave this option enabled. However, always exercise great caution before accepting somebody's friend request. |
| View your friend list | "No" | You should not allow people who are not yet your friends to view your friend list. Ensure that this option is disabled. |
