Social Media Privacy Settings Everyone Should Check Today

A friend once told me a stranger messaged his teenage daughter, mentioning her school name and the bus stop she used. Nobody had hacked anything. All of it was visible on her public profile — school uniform in photos, location tags, check-ins.

That conversation made me sit down and check every privacy setting on my own apps. It took less than an hour, and I recommend everyone do the same. Here is my simple checklist.

🔑 Step 1: Secure the Login First

Privacy settings mean nothing if someone can log in as you.

• Turn on two-step verification or two-factor authentication on every social app. On WhatsApp, it is a six-digit PIN under Settings → Account.
• Use a different, strong password for each account. A free password generator helps.
• Where available, use passkeys — I explain them in passkeys explained.
• Check “logged-in devices” or “where you’re logged in” and remove any device you don’t recognise.

💬 Step 2: WhatsApp Privacy

Under Settings → Privacy, you can choose who sees your:

• Last seen and online status — “My contacts” or “Nobody”.
• Profile photo and About — “My contacts” keeps strangers from saving your photo.
• Groups — choose who can add you, so you are not dropped into scam groups.
• Status — you can hide it from specific contacts.

There is also an option to silence calls from unknown numbers, which helps reduce scam calls.

📷 Step 3: Instagram and Facebook

• Private account: if you are not a creator or business, consider making your Instagram private so only approved followers see your posts.
• Who can message or tag you: limit tags and mentions to people you follow.
• Facebook Privacy Checkup: Facebook has a guided tool that walks you through who sees your posts, phone number, email and friend list. Set old posts to “Friends” in one step.
• Phone number and email: hide them from your public profile and stop people from finding you using your phone number.
• Close friends and custom lists: share personal moments only with a small trusted group.

App menus change often, so if you can’t find something, search for it inside the app’s settings.

📍 Step 4: Location and Photos

This is where most families leak information without knowing.

• Avoid tagging your home location or children’s school.
• Post holiday photos after you return, not while your house is empty.
• Check that your camera app isn’t adding location to photos you share publicly.
• Look at the background — house numbers, vehicle number plates, ID cards and boarding passes reveal a lot.

🧹 Step 5: Clean Up Apps and Old Accounts

Over the years we sign in to many quiz apps, games and websites using our social accounts. Each one may still have access to your profile.

Go to the “Apps and websites” or “Connected apps” section and remove anything you no longer use. Delete old accounts you have forgotten. And plan what happens to your accounts in the long run — my digital legacy plan article explains how.

“What you share online is like a footprint in wet cement — easy to make, hard to remove.”

👨‍👩‍👧 Step 6: Help Your Family

Parents and grandparents are often the most open online. Spend one Sunday afternoon checking their settings with them. For children, decide together what is okay to post and keep accounts private. If anything goes wrong, report to the app and, for fraud or harassment, to cybercrime.gov.in or the helpline 1930.

✨ Takeaway

Secure your login, limit who sees your details, be careful with location and remove old app connections. Do this once a year, like a health check-up for your digital life. Privacy is not about hiding — it is about choosing who gets to know you.