Protecting your privacy online - Facebook Edition

I was looking through my Facebook settings, and there's lots of privacy settings in there. And every couple of months, they add new ones, and they're almost always set to public by default. So I figured I'll write a bit about changing the Facebook settings so that your info isn't public.

First, click on the Account drop-down menu at the upper-right of the page, then click on Account Settings. Scroll down the page and click on Account Security.

Account Settings - Settings Tab

HTTPS - Facebook is currently in the process of rolling out a new option called HTTPS. HTTPS isn't new, it's just new on Facebook. HTTPS encrypts your data between your computer and their servers. If you don't have HTTPS enabled, then your info can be seen by sniffers that might be on your network. I highly recommend enabling this option.
NOTE: The HTTPS option is new to Facebook and may take a few days until it appears in your Account Settings. Once it does, it's simply a matter of checking the checkbox and clicking Save.

Below that, you have an option to receive an email when another device logs into your facebook account. I should point out that most of the time, these may be your own devices. It's mainly a security measure for if you think someone else hacked your account and/or got your password. Below that, there is the option to log out any devices that are currently logged into your facebook account.

Account Settings - Facebook Ads Tab

These settings are for changing what info is shown about you that your friends can see in Facebook's ads. Honestly, these haven't been bothering me for at least 3 months, mainly because I've been using Firefox's most popular add-on. There's even an alternative for Chrome, one for Safari, and one for IE. But I digress.

For the Allow ads on platform pages to show my information to option, select No one from the drop-down menu.

For the Show my social actions in Facebook Ads to option, select No one from the drop-down menu.

Privacy Settings

Click on the Account drop-down menu at the upper-right of the page, then click on Privacy Settings.

Under Connecting on Facebook, click View Settings.

The options here are pretty self-explanatory, so I won't go into detail. You can set the options of what you want different people to be able to see about you, depending on whether or not they're your friend.

Go back to the main Privacy Settings page. On the sidebar, choose who you want most of your shared info to be accessible to, then click Apply These Settings. I'll be much easier to customize those settings this way. Now click Customize Settings.

I'm not sure what Include me in "People Here Now" after I check in does, but I left that unchecked.

Edit Settings for Friends can check me in to Places and select Disabled, then click Okay. The rest is personal preference.

Back on the main Privacy Settings page, click Edit your settings at the lower-left of the page.

You can edit the settings to remove any apps that you don't want anymore. For Info accessible through your friends, click Edit Settings uncheck all checkboxes, and Save Changes. For Instant Personalization, click Edit Settings, and uncheck the checkbox. I'm not entirely sure what Instant Personalization does, but I think it shows your friends information about you when they're on other websites. If you don't want anyone to be able to find your Facebook profile from Google or Bing, Edit Settings for Public Search and uncheck the checkbox.

You're done. (I hope I haven't missed anything.)