Boost Your Privacy Settings on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp Now
The battle for your online privacy could escalate very soon.
Buzzfeed received and reported on an early draft of an open letter on Facebook signed by several US, UK and Australian lawmakers calling for the postponement of its plans to implement end-to-end message encryption for Facebook Messenger, Instagram DM and WhatsApp. until he consults with governments and law enforcement. The purpose of the letter is to force Facebook to develop its planned encryption features so that they can provide governments with a full backdoor access to user post data if they require it to be investigated.
So what does this mean for users? Not much. In a statement, responding to an open letter, Facebook said it does not intend to abandon or change its encryption plans, and criticized lawmakers’ calls for adding legal loopholes. So, at least for now, we can still expect to see end-to-end encryption in Facebook’s messaging services, but that could change if multiple countries increase legal pressure on Facebook.
But – aside from requests for government loopholes – are these legislators right?
While the letter acknowledges that Facebook is vigilant in removing dangerous and illegal content, it also clearly states that even the slightest risk should be taken seriously. And they are right – no matter how good preventive measures are, you cannot avoid injury, child exploitation and abuse. However, this does not necessarily mean that government backdoors are also the right solution.
The problem here is not encryption per se, but the unreliable combination of public profiles and encrypted private messages that this change can create. We advocate apps with end-to-end encryption and strict privacy standards , but most of these apps are based on peer-to-peer communication where you must know your account name or phone number in order to send messages.
This model is very different from public social networks like Facebook or Instagram, where most of the users are easily accessible. Unless you’ve deliberately changed your profile settings or limited contact information on your account, most Facebook users can be found with a little effort – and if you can find someone’s profile, you can most likely send them a message. If all messages are encrypted, it becomes much more difficult to combat abuse; reduces the effectiveness of parental control or activity monitoring; and may interfere with the investigation of serious crimes.
Don’t take this as anti-encryption or pro-government backdoors – I’m not saying that at all. But the open letter makes sense: Facebook needs to do more to protect its users at all possible levels, and not just focus on encrypting messages.
Improve your privacy on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp
Assuming Facebook’s plans move smoothly and Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp are merged into a single encrypted messaging service, we recommend making some privacy changes.
- You can change your Facebook privacy settings by going to Settings> Privacy from your desktop and mobile app. We recommend that you set your post and profile visibility to “friends only”. disable message requests from people you don’t know; turning off the ability for people to find your profile using search engines; and limiting the amount of information that can be used to find you using Facebook search.
- Remove as much contact information as possible from your profile, especially your phone number. You can hide this information by making it “only visible to me”, but technically, the data is still stored by Facebook this way. Removing is a smarter solution. You can edit your personal information by going to Settings> Your Facebook Information.
- Feel free to use Facebook’s built-in blocking tools, which can be controlled under Settings> Blocking .
- Go to your Instagram profile, then click / click on “Edit Profile” to open the account settings menu. On the Edit Profile tab , uncheck the box next to “Include your account when recommending similar accounts” and remove any personal information you don’t need to provide.
- On the Privacy & Security tab , turn off Show Activity Status and Allow Sharing. The best way to delete unwanted messages or contacts is to enable My Account as well , especially if you mainly use Instagram to share personal photos with friends and family.
- Always block and / or report messages from accounts you do not want to be associated with.
- Go to Settings> Account> Privacy and change each setting to Nobody (or Contacts Only if that’s the strictest option available).
- As with Facebook and Instagram, use the lock button if necessary.
While they are useful for all users, we strongly recommend that parents set these settings on their child’s accounts. These settings aren’t perfect, but they are much better than the default privacy settings available in these apps, and will go a long way to help reduce illegal and offensive activities that lawmakers and Facebook alike want to prevent.