Navigating to the settings hub
The first place you need to go once you've signed into Facebook is the account settings page. You can navigate to your account settings by left-clicking on the Account tab at the top-right corner of your browser page. In the drop-down menu, select the third option down: Account Settings. From the Account Settings page, you can manage and edit almost every facet of your Facebook profile.
Facebook Ads settingsOn this page, you want to left-click on the last tab to the right — "Facebook Ads." The Facebook Ads tab has two sections: Ads shown by third parties and "Ads and friends."
Under "Ads shown by third parties," there is a brief explanation of Facebook's terms of service regarding third party advertisements. Click "Edit third party ad settings" and you'll see a drop-down menu under the next paragraph that will allow you to chose "Only my friends" or "No one." While this setting isn't active yet, by making your choice now you'll be ready just in case Facebook decides to let third-party sites use your activity info and profile picture for social advertising. Click Save Changes, then click the Facebook Ads tab again.
The "Ads and friends" section deals with social advertising: "find products and services you're interested in, based on what your friends share and like." Click "Edit social ads setting." Below the explanatory paragraphs you'll find "Pair my social actions with ads for" and another drop-down menu with the same options as the last page ("Only my friends" or no one). This is where people end up seeing advertisements with their friends' profile picture. Ever wonder how that happened? Select the "no one" option to prevent your profile pic from adorning someone else's advertisement.
Sharing privacy optionsNext, navigate to the Privacy Settings page. Just like accessing Account Settings, you'll go to the top-right corner and click Account. This time, select the Privacy Settings option from the drop-down menu.
The Privacy Settings page controls exactly that — privacy. The first section, "Connecting on Facebook" isn't displayed right off the bat, so let's take a look at the second section first, which is displayed. It's called Sharing on Facebook, and this is where you set exactly who you can see your various types of information.
The default settings by Facebook are pretty general. Your first three types of information are shared with everyone (yes, visible to anyone on Facebook!), the next three are friends and friends of friends, and the last three are friends only. You can set these however you like, but let's take a quick look at which ones are probably the ones you'll want to customize.
The first one listed is status, photos, and posts. These are your day-to-day items that you'll share most often. That being said, if you're concerned about your privacy, these are probably the ones you'll want to limit to friends only, or at the most, friends of friends. Other items in this category of concern would include photos and videos you're tagged in, birthday, places you've checked into, and contact information.
You can change any of these settings by left-clicking on the Customize Settings link located just below all of the options. You'll also see a check box for the option to let friends of people you've tagged in your photos and videos see them. This is just like using the friends of friends setting mentioned above, but goes one step further when you tag people in your own photos and videos.
Connection privacy optionsNow, let's take a look at your connection privacy options. On the same page (Privacy Settings), left-click the View Settings link under the Connecting on Facebook section. This will bring up a new page with seven more privacy areas for you to control. Each privacy area has a short description next to it that will help you decide which option is best for you. The drop-down menu options for each setting are the same as the previous page: everyone, friends of friends, and friends only. Once again, let's take a look at some of the options that can help you keep it "all in the family."
The ability to "see your education and work" and "see your current city and hometown" is something you probably don't want to grant to strangers on the street. These are things you will want to keep to friends only or friends of friends. "See your likes, activities and other connections" could also fall into this category, depending on your level of comfort online. The first four areas are commonly set to Everyone, especially if you're looking to connect with old friends, acquaintances, or if you just want to network in general.
Micro-manage, post-by-postOne final (and really neat) option is one that allows you to change your sharing options for any individual post. Here's how it works. Simply go to your Facebook home page and left-click the "What's on your mind?" text box like you are going to share a status update, link, or whatever. You'll notice a small drop-down arrow (possibly with a lock, depending on your settings) next to the Share button. Clicking on this arrow gives you the same "Everyone, Friends of Friends, and Friends Only" options. Changing the option here will only impact this post, rather than your entire profile settings.
Keeping the ball in your court
Facebook has been changing its privacy settings on a regular basis as of late. Some changes have been in response to advertisers wanting more customization and control over targeting their ads, other changes have been in response to the website's users decrying encroachment of their privacy. Make sure you read and take note of any notices that legitimately come from Facebook.
Even this level of diligence may not be enough. Some changes have been implemented in the past without any real notification other than a change in the Terms of Service. We recommend following a good tech news source (such as Tecca!) in order to keep up with all of the changes surrounding Facebook. You can do that right on our Facebook topic page. We'll keep you posted on all the changes and what you can do to keep your private information safe.