Spring Clean Your Devices to Protect From Data Miners (Video and Podcast)
The problem is that Facebook (FB) - Get Report is a social network designed to allow people to connect and share things.
Yet people expect privacy.
"But sharing and privacy are diametrically opposed," says Jim Anderson, CEO of SocialFlow, a software platform used by big media to content on Twitter (TWTR) - Get Report , Facebook, etc.
So how do you balance the two?
And while many people presume these days that "Big Brother" is watching and that that their data is being shared regularly, it crossed the line when the sharing became political.
Data on 50 million Facebook users was inappropriately used by Cambridge Analytica, a data analysis firm used by the Trump presidential campaign.
"In the lens of politics, everything is seen differently. People didn't know their data was going to be used in the political arena," says Anderson.
So while we figure out what role Facebook has in all this, you have to be proactive and protect yourself.
We reached out to Russ Schrader, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance, and he gave us a bunch of great tips.
Watch the personal info you put out there. Posting: "So glad I'm not in the snow in Minneapolis right now" leaders the data hacks to figure out where you live.
Own your Online Presence. There are privacy options out there, so go to your favorite sites and click them.
"Lock down your log in," says Schrader. Use the two-factor authentification on the important stuff, like your bank and investment accounts.
Spring Cleaning Your Machine. Download all the patches. Do the updates. Clean out your cache. Delete apps you're not using because they're just siphoning info on your phone whether you use them of not
Share with care. So the photos of you getting sloshed at the company party probably don't need to be on Facebook - or anywhere for that matter.
Check your passwords and create pass "phrases" instead. Use a phrase: Like "Ilovehamsandwiches." Because the data miners will have a much harder time figuring that out.
And then be sure to listen to TheStreet's Senior Editor Ron Orol, tech reporter Francesca Fontana, and Chief Correspondent Tracy Byrnes, fully dissect all the events causing a #DeleteFacebook backlash and learn how it affects your wallet.
Listen to the full podcast below now.
