Protecting your privacy online
In the excitement of posting and liking content online, we risk oversharing. Learn about keeping your information private and protecting your digital reputation.
Personal information
Part of staying safe online means controlling who can see your personal information, and who can't. If somebody gets hold of your personal information, it could result in identity theft, unwanted contact, or damage to your reputation.
Personal information is any information that could identify you, including your:
- full name
- phone number
- email address
- date of birth
- home, school or work address
- photos of you
- username and password (never tell anyone these).
Sharing some information online is okay if it's shared with people and organisations you trust. For example, you share your address with your school but maybe not with your Snapchat friends.
Visit the eSafety Commissioner to learn about identity theft.
Photos
Some smartphones link your photos with your location automatically. This means people can look at the metadata (extra information hidden in the file) in your online images and find out where you were at the time you took them, and so could work out where you live, work or study.
The eSafety Commissioner recommends that you check the location settings on your device to work out which apps are using your location and turn it off or limit the function.
You can find more information about metadata and geo-location at Can I safely share photos of my kids online? on the eSafety Commissioner’s website.
Tech gifts
Be smart and secure with tech gifts. Parents can check the safety of popular gifts that can be connected to the internet, like smart toys, smartphones, tablets, drones and even wearables for pets with the eSafety Commissioner's Gift Guide. Access practical advice on how to stay safe, set strong passwords, turn off location settings and limit the amount of personal information young people share.
Digital reputation
Your digital reputation matters. It's what other people think of you, based on what you do online. Over time, the information you put online builds up and becomes part of your digital reputation. What you say, do, buy and like online all adds up to your digital footprint. This trail of information can be cleaned up but can't ever be removed entirely.
Controlling your digital reputation means deciding the boundaries of:
- how often you post
- the nature of the content
- who you share with.
Visit the eSafety Commissioner to learn more about protecting your digital reputation.
Privacy on social media
Social media is where you connect, chat and celebrate life's moments with your family and friends. But without strong privacy settings, you could be sharing your personal information with complete strangers. Watch this video about identity theft from Action Fraud UK.
Stay in control of your social media by choosing what things you share, and who gets to see them.
What personal information is being shared?
When you post a photo online, send a tweet, or chat on a social network such as Snapchat or TikTok, you’re sharing a lot more than you might think. In addition to the content you're sharing, other data is also shared.
This might include:
- the time when you made the post
- where you posted from (your physical location)
- a link to your profile
- personal details like your birthday or gender
- links to friends and family's profiles
- links to anyone tagged in the post
- other identified faces, and links to their profiles
- other identified locations from a photo or video.
In most cases, you might be happy to share all this information with your friends and family. It's important to ensure your posts only reach the people you choose.
By controlling your privacy settings, you choose what gets shared, where and with whom.
How to control your settings
Here are some tips for the major apps.
Snapchat
On Snapchat, you choose who can send you photos or videos (snaps) and who can view your story.
Be aware:
- when you send snaps, people at the other end can take screenshots or find other ways to record your snaps
- you can choose whether to share your location. You have the option of sharing your location with all your friends, some of them, or keeping your location private (ghost mode). While in ghost mode you’ll still be able to track your friends
- any snaps you submit to snap map can still show up on the map, no matter what location setting you choose. This means your location will be visible to all Snapchat users, not only your friends.
Find out more about Snapchat and how you can use it safely.
Instagram and Facebook
On both Facebook and Instagram you can set your account to private. You'll need to approve a person’s friend or follow request. Only then can they see your posts and your stories.
To increase your privacy, you may want to review your:
- friend and follower lists
- profile information
- reactions and comments, and
- who can see your posts and stories (see select your audience on Facebook).
Find out more about Instagram and Facebook and how to use them safely.
X
On X, formerly Twitter, you can choose to set your account to protected, which places limits on who can see and respond to your tweets.
For protected accounts:
- you have to agree to a follow request before a user can see or retweet your tweets
- your tweets will not appear in Google searches
- people who aren’t following you won't see your @replies
- only approved followers can see permanent links in your tweets.
Find out more about X.
TikTok
On TikTok, you can choose to set your account to private, which means you decide who can see and respond to your videos.
You can also:
- turn off the option for TikTok to 'suggest your account to others' if you don't want more followers
- revoke syncing with your contacts
- hide your liked videos and followed accounts
- disable ad topics you'd prefer to avoid.
Find out more about TikTok and how to use it safely.