Tag: apps

Security on Facebook #2: Deny Facebook Access to Your Phone

Lately there have been more and more focus on exactly what the Facebook and Messenger apps are doing on your phone. And the revelations have been quite an eye opener for a lot of people. There is no logical reason for Facebook reading your phone contacts list, your text messages or any other content on your phone.

Especially Android users have been affected by this, because on the Iphone there are more restrictions.

However, I’m going to show you how you can use Facebook and Messenger on your phone without having to worry about the Facebook corporation accessing anything on your phone:

  1. If you have the Facebook and Messenger apps installed on your phone, uninstall them now
  2. Open your phone’s web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera Mini etc)
  3. Go to this adress: https://mbasic.facebook.com/
  4. Log in to your Facebook account. If your web browser asks you for permission to give you notifications, you can safely accept.
  5. You will now see the basic version of Facebook:
    FB Basic
  6. Click on the browser’s menu button and choose Add to homescreen:
    How to Geek
  7. An icon will now be placed on your home screen on your phone:
    Icons
  8. Use this icon to open and browse Facebook.

That’s it. Now you can use Facebook and Messenger without having to worry about giving away your data or information about your cell phone contacts and text messages.

Be warned thought, that the basic version of Facebook is just that: Basic. Most of the functionality will be there, but it’s a bit more cumbersome to use. But after a while, you get used to it.

 

Security on Facebook #1: Clean Up Your Apps

In the following days I will post a series of postings showing you how to secure your Facebook account in the best possible way. Each tip will take you less than two minutes to follow. 

I’m sure you have used Facebook to log in to apps an web sites. I am also sure you have used the “comment with your Facebook profile” in comments sections and similar. And of course, you might have played Farmville, taken Nametests questionnaires and so on.

Here’s how to go through the list of your apps to see exactly who and what you have given access to your profile data:

  1. Go to the pulldown menu up in the right corner of Facebook:
    Settings menu
  2. Choose Settings:
    Settings menu choice
  3. A new page will open up. There is a menu to the left. Find the one called Apps:
    Apps
  4. Click on it and a new page will open up where you will see all apps where you use Facebook to log on:
  5. Hold your mouse pointer over one of the app icons, and these two new smaller icons will appear:
    Edit App
  6. Clik on the pencil to see what exactly you give this app access to (warning: You might be shocked):
    Permissions
  7. If you scroll down in the list, you can also see that you give this app permission to do on your Facebook account (warning: This might scare you even more)
  8. To remove permissions, click on the blue check mark to the right, so that it turns white:
    Check box
  9. Click the Save button and you will be taken back to the app list.
  10. You can now do the same with the other apps, or you can simply remove the app completely. Do this by clicking on the x-icon:
    Remov app
  11. You will now be asked to confirm that you want to remove it. You may also be given the opportunity to select a checkbox saying that you want to delete everything you’ve ever posted on Facebook with this app. My recommendation is that you do this! Then click Remove.
  12. Congratulations. You have now taken control of your apps (if you do this with your entire app lists).