Although the point of social media is to share things quickly and easily with family, friends, or colleagues it is vital to your security that you know what is actually being shared and who has access to it.

On Facebook:
Change your privacy settings. You can select who views what you post, your photos, contact information and comments. It’s easy to make separate lists–so you can separate your mom from your college friends. Make a group and set a limited profile for that list of people.

Below is a screen shot of the “Things I Share” Privacy settings. Notice how many options are “Friends Only” or have a Limited Group who cannot see that section.

Facebook Places is a fairly new feature of Facebook. It allows people to virtually check into locations. It allows your friends or even people who are not your friend on Facebook to check you into locations. If you don’t want others checking you into locations without your knowledge, you can change your settings for Facebook Places. Go to the privacy settings where you are able to select who is allowed to tag you.

On Twitter:
You can turn on “Protect my Tweets” to ensure only those following you (and approved by you) can see what you are posting about.