Social media is a great way to stay in touch with family, friends and keep up to date on the latest news. However, it’s important to know how to manage the security and privacy settings on your accounts, so that your personal information remains inaccessible to anyone but you.

Use 2-step verification (2SV) to protect your accounts

2-step verification (often shortened to 2SV and sometimes called two-factor authentication) provides a way of 'double checking' that you really are the person you are claiming to be when you're using online services, such as social media, banking or email. Even if a criminal (or someone simply looking to cause mischief) knows your password, they won't be able to access any of your accounts that are protected using 2SV.

Understanding your digital footprint

It's worth exercising some caution when using social media. Not everyone using social media is necessarily who they say they are. Take a moment to check if you know the person, and if the friend/link/follow is genuine.

Less obviously, you should think about your digital footprint, which is a term used to describe the entirety of information that you post online, including photos and status updates. Criminals can use this publicly available information to steal your identity or use it to make phishing messages more convincing. You should:

• Think about what you're posting, and who has access to it. Have you configured the privacy options so that it's only accessible to the people you want to see it?
• Consider what your followers and friends need to know, and what detail is unnecessary (but could be useful for criminals).
• Have an idea about what your friends, colleagues or other contacts say about you online.

Social media and children

Most social media accounts require users to be at least 13 years old. However, it is easy to sign-up with a false date of birth. For expert advice about how to keep children safe online, please refer to:

• Thinkuknow: National Crime Agency: education programme for children
• Internet Matters.Org: Social Media Tips
• NSPCC: keep your child safe on social networks

Advice from social media platforms

The following guidance is provided by each of the major social media platforms. Click to read detailed information.

• Facebook: Basic privacy settings and tools
• Twitter: How to protect and unprotect your Tweets
• YouTube: Privacy and safety
• Instagram: Privacy settings and information
• LinkedIn: Account and privacy settings overview
• Snapchat: Privacy settings
• Tiktok: Privacy and security settings