How to take control of your social media privacy

Social media has gone from being popular to practically universal. As of October 2025, there were an estimated 5.66 billion social media user identities globally — representing 2 out of every 3 people on Earth.

Depending on your privacy settings, that means every piece of personal data you post online, from your name and email address to personal photos and location tags, is potentially visible to billions of people — including some with bad intentions.

That exposure leaves you vulnerable to diverse threats, from scammers who use public information to make their scams more convincing to identity thieves who combine data from social media with other details to commit serious fraud.

Social media risks that can impact your privacy

Lax privacy settings on social media expose you to both third-party risks (like scammers, hackers, or fraudsters) and first-party risks (like data mining, profiling, and personalized ad targeting). Some data privacy risks are more concerning than others, but here’s a list of all the main ones so you get the full picture.

Social engineering and phishing attacks

Your social media profiles and public posts can reveal a surprising amount of personal information. While sharing a location tag, photo, or personal update may seem harmless on its own, each piece of information adds to the digital footprint you leave behind.

Cybercriminals can use these details to build a profile of you, making social engineering and phishing attacks far more convincing. With enough information, scammers may impersonate a friend, colleague, employer, or trusted organization in an attempt to manipulate you into revealing sensitive information, such as banking details, account credentials, or your Social Security number (SSN).

Account takeover attacks

Any type of account takeover attack can have serious consequences, given how much sensitive information online accounts often contain. But social media account takeovers can be especially damaging because these platforms frequently serve as hubs for personal information, contacts, and connected services.

If a social media account is compromised, attackers may gain access to private messages, personal details, saved payment information, and even login credentials for linked apps and accounts. This can create a cascading security risk, allowing cybercriminals to target other accounts, impersonate you, or launch additional scams using your identity.

Doxing

Once information is shared publicly online, it can be difficult to control how it is used or distributed. One potential consequence is doxing, a form of online harassment in which someone publicly shares private information — such as a home address, phone number, or personal email address—without the owner's consent.

Doxing is often intended to intimidate or distress the victim by undermining their sense of privacy and security. In addition to emotional harm, it can increase the risk of ongoing harassment, identity theft, fraud, and other forms of abuse.

Data mining and profiling

Many social media platforms collect user data and share it with advertisers, data brokers, and other third parties as outlined in their terms of service. While this practice is generally legal and disclosed to users, it can raise privacy concerns for individuals who want greater control over their personal information.

Cybercriminals and data scrapers may also collect information from public profiles to build detailed datasets that can later be sold or misused. Even data that appears harmless on its own can become valuable when combined with information from other sources, creating detailed profiles that can be used for targeted scams, identity theft, or other malicious activity.

In one high-profile example, a hacker known as 'Solonik' once compiled 17.5 million Instagram records — data the platform considered public but which, combined with other stolen information, could give identity thieves everything they needed to target victims.

Malware

Social media platforms encourage sharing, but links or files you encounter on your timeline or in messages can be viruses or malware in disguise. And some malicious software could steal data from devices it infects, impacting your privacy.

The antidote to this threat is to avoid clicking links or downloading files unless you can verify they come from a trusted source. This includes suspicious direct messages, shortened URLs, unexpected attachments, and links shared from accounts that may have been compromised.

Cyberbullying

The perceived distance and anonymity of online interactions can encourage behavior that people might avoid in face-to-face situations. This can lead to harassment, intimidation, trolling, and other forms of harmful behavior collectively known as cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying can affect users of all ages, but it is particularly concerning for children and teenagers. Without strong privacy settings and moderation controls, harmful content or targeted harassment can spread quickly and reach a large audience.

Third-party app exploitation

Major social media platforms are often subject to significant scrutiny regarding user privacy, but third-party apps, games, quizzes, and integrations may not always be held to the same standards.

Some of these applications request extensive permissions that allow them to access profile information, friend lists, messages, or other personal data. In some cases, this information may be shared with third parties, mishandled, or exposed  in future data breaches, creating additional privacy and security risks.

Geolocation tracking

Location tags, check-ins, and GPS-enabled features can reveal more about your movements than you may realize. When enabled, these features can allow others to determine where you are, where you live, or places you regularly visit.

While this information is often used for personalized content and local advertising, it can also create privacy and safety concerns if accessed by malicious individuals. Limiting location sharing and reviewing your privacy settings can help reduce the risk of exposing your whereabouts unnecessarily.

The link between social media privacy and identity theft

Identity thieves thrive on access to sensitive personal data. And while it’s maybe most often associated with stolen SSNs or hacked bank accounts, it can just as easily start with seemingly ordinary bits of information like your full name, email address, or birthdate.

If your social media profiles are public, much of this information may be readily available to scammers looking for potential victims. A birthday post, a tagged photo, a gym check-in, or even a comment mentioning a pet's name may seem harmless on its own.

But when combined, these details can help cybercriminals build a detailed profile that can be used to launch convincing phishing attacks, guess passwords, answer common security questions, or even open new accounts and lines of credit in your name.

In some cases, this misuse can lead to serious real-world consequences. For example, in the U.K., 19-year-old Sasha-Jay Davies had pictures stolen from her social media accounts, which were then used to create a fake account and catfish men online. As a result, some of the victims mistakenly identified Davies in public and harassed her for actions committed by the impersonator.

What data is okay to share on social media?

Sharing personal information online always involves some degree of risk. As a general rule, it's safest to limit public posts to information that is already widely available or no longer sensitive, such as your name, past education, qualifications, or previous employers.

Current personal details deserve more caution. A photo, location tag, or seemingly casual comment can reveal more than intended, so it's worth treating every post as a deliberate choice rather than a routine habit.

Some information should never be shared publicly under any circumstances. Avoid posting details found on government-issued IDs, financial documents, or medical records, including your full home address, Social Security number, driver's license number, bank account information, or payment card details.

It's also wise to avoid sharing high-resolution close-up images of biometric identifiers, such as fingerprints or irises, which could potentially be misused in identity-related attacks.

How to boost your privacy on social media

Beyond being selective about what you share, review and strengthen your social media privacy settings. Limiting who can view your posts, profile details, friend lists, and personal information can reduce your exposure to scammers, data scrapers, and identity thieves while giving you greater control over your digital footprint.

Here’s a guide to making your profile private on some of the major social media platforms.

Facebook

Follow these steps to adjust your profile privacy settings on Facebook:

1. Open the Facebook app, then tap the three-line menu in the top left corner.
2. Tap Settings & privacy, then tap Settings.
3. Scroll down to Audience and visibility, which lists Profile details, Posts, Stories, Avatars, and more.
4. Tap on each option one at a time, tap the Edit icon, then Who can see this? at the bottom.
5. Change the privacy to Only Me or Friends.
6. Tap Done, then Save.
7. Repeat for each category.

You should also hide your Friends list, disable off-Facebook activity tracking, and turn on tag reviewing to check tags you’re mentioned in before they appear on Facebook. Keeping your account’s visibility limited only to people you trust can help prevent some Facebook scams.

Instagram

Here’s how to make your Instagram account private:

1. Open the Instagram app. Tap the Profile icon or your profile picture in the bottom-right corner to view your profile.
2. Tap the three-line menu in the top right.
3. Below Who can see your content, tap Account privacy.
4. Tap the Toggle icon next to Private account to make your account private.
5. Tap Switch to private to confirm and save.

Remember, only personal accounts can be made private. If you want to adjust the privacy settings on a business account, you must first switch it back to a personal account.

TikTok

These are the steps to follow to make your TikTok account private:

1. Open the TikTok app, and tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the three-line menu button at the top.
3. Tap Settings and privacy, then tap Private account.
4. Turn Private account on.

If you don’t want followers to reuse your content or share it in their stories, TikTok allows you to turn off the Duet feature. You can also limit messages and comments to Friends only (followers whom you follow back).

X

To make your posts on X (formerly Twitter) private, follow these steps:

• Open the X app and tap on the three-dot More icon.
• Tap Settings and privacy.
• Tap Privacy and safety.
• Go to Audience and tagging and, next to Protect your posts, check the box.

Enabling protected posts means that your content can only be seen by your followers. You’ll be notified when you get new follower requests, and you can accept or deny each individual. If you unprotect your posts in the future, all past protected posts will be made public as well.

In the Settings and privacy menu, you can also disable photo tagging (or limit it just to your followers) and restrict your discoverability by disabling searches based on your email or phone number.

WhatsApp

Follow the steps below to change your privacy settings in WhatsApp:

1. Open WhatsApp, and tap the three-dot menu in the upper-right corner.
2. Tap Settings, then Privacy.
3. You’ll see a list of privacy settings you can change, including Profile picture, About, Status, and more.
4. Tap on each item one at a time.
5. Select My contacts, My contacts except…, or Nobody.

WhatsApp lets you turn off read receipts and turn on disappearing messages, so old chat content is erased after a set amount of time. You’re also able to manage who can see your Instagram link in your WhatsApp profile by limiting its visibility as you prefer.

The harder it is for scammers to find your WhatsApp account, the less likely it is that you’ll be targeted by unsolicited messages and WhatsApp scams.

Other ways to improve social media security

You can further strengthen your social media privacy and security by following basic cybersecurity best practices, including carefully managing your connections, using strong passwords, and enabling account alerts.

Here are some practical ways to improve your account security:

• Only connect with people you trust: Keep your friends and followers list limited to people you know and trust. Before accepting a request, verify that the account is legitimate, especially if it appears newly created or behaves unusually.
• Delete inactive accounts: Old social media accounts can still expose personal information, even if you no longer use them. Delete inactive accounts and consider removing profiles from platforms you rarely visit to reduce your overall exposure.
• Use unique passwords: Create a strong, unique password for each social media account. Passwords should ideally be at least 15 characters long and never reused across multiple platforms. This helps prevent attackers from using credentials exposed in one breach to access other accounts.
• Set up multifactor authentication (MFA): MFA adds an extra layer of protection by requiring a second form of verification, such as a one-time code, authentication app approval, or biometric scan. Even if a password is compromised, MFA can help prevent unauthorized access.
• Enable login alerts: Many social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X allow you to receive notifications when someone logs in from a new device or location. Enabling these alerts can help you spot and respond to suspicious activity quickly.
• Consider social media monitoring: Social media monitoring services can help detect suspicious activity, unauthorized access attempts, and exposed credentials. Some services also scan the dark web for leaked account information, providing early warning if your data has been compromised.

By following these tips, you can help protect your digital footprint and minimize how much of your personal data can be accessed online.

Protect your privacy and your identity

Online privacy, on social media and beyond, can make all the difference in how easily scammers, fraudsters, and other cybercriminals can target you in deceptive schemes. Join LifeLock to help boost your privacy and look out for threats, with Automatic Data Broker Removal, dark web and social media monitoring, data breach alerts, and scam protection features.

FAQs

What is social media privacy?

Social media privacy is the extent to which your social media accounts, and the personal information they contain, are protected from people you don't want accessing them. You can improve your privacy by making your accounts private, limiting profile visibility, disabling location sharing and tagging features, and being more selective about the information you post online.

What information should you never share on social media?

Sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, banking details, passwords, and medical records should never be shared on social media. It's also wise to limit the amount of personally identifiable data you make public, including your full address, phone number, date of birth, and other details that scammers could use to impersonate you or commit fraud.

Which social platform has the most privacy risks?

No single platform is inherently the most risky, as privacy largely depends on how you use the service and configure its settings. That said, larger platforms often attract more scammers because of their massive user bases. According to Gen Digital data from 2025, 63% of detected social media fraud attempts occurred on Facebook.

Does setting my account to private mean the platform can't see my data?

No. Making your account private limits what other users can see, but it doesn’t prevent the platform itself from collecting or processing your data. Social media companies can still track activity, gather usage information, and use your data in accordance with their privacy policies and terms of service. Private accounts improve privacy from other users, not from the platform operating the service.