Facebook has been in the news a lot lately regarding cyber security and how safe your data is. A whistleblower revealed that the political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, harvested 87 million Facebook profiles to understand voter behavior in the 2016 US presidential election.  Cambridge Analytica accessed user data without the users’ permission. The company did so via a personality prediction Facebook app called “thisisyourdigitallife.” It included profiles, names, locations and info on their friends in the content they “liked.” According to an article in business.com, the app that captured private information of Facebook users also collected some users’ private messages (although to a much lesser degree.)

It is probably not possible to keep all of our content safe on Facebook and other social media accounts, but there are safety measures you can take. Make sure to make privacy changes to your account and set them at the strongest levels possible. Be careful when you “log in with Facebook” for other apps. Even though this is easier and doesn’t require a password, your information could be vulnerable.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress recently. We will keep you updated on further developments. In the meantime, as always, stay cyber safe.