6 Things You Should Never Share on Social Media

What are the social media risks of oversharing?

Oversharing on social media doesn't just refer to the person who posts every thought they've ever had online. Although annoying your friends and family is one of the major social media risks, it's not what we're talking about here! We want to concentrate on the cybersecurity risks of sharing too much information online.

Sharing sensitive data, personal details, location data, family life, or even photos can all give away pieces of information, opening you up to social media risks such as:

Data breach: Your social media posts could lead to a company data breach which could end up affecting thousands of people. Should the data leak be traced back to something you posted on your social media profile, you could risk losing your job.

Identity theft: Just a single piece of data could allow a bad actor to steal your identity. They could go on to commit further crimes in your name and leave you in crippling debt. Using your ID, criminals can rack up bank loans, credit cards, tax fraud, and more.

Phishing scams: When you share information online, you can't always control who sees it. This information can be used in social engineering attacks to manipulate you into believing you are communicating with someone you know well.

Examples of things you should never share on social media

Most of you will read these examples and think, “I would never do that!” and that's good! But sometimes we get caught up in the moment and just want to share our news with the world. What might seem like a completely run-of-the-mill post could be a golden ticket for a cybercriminal and put you in danger of the above social media risks.

As part of your education on how to protect your privacy on social media, let's look at some examples of what not to share online!

#1 Financial Data

You might be excited about receiving your first payslip from a new job...but don't take a selfie of yourself holding it. Not only could you be fired for breaking confidentiality agreements, but payslips can contain personal information useful to bad actors.

Got a cool design on your new credit card? Don't post a photo of that either, front or back. This would basically be like handing over the keys to the castle, putting you in line for that most terrifying of social media risks, identity theft.

#2 ID documents

It doesn't matter how terrible or terribly funny your passport photo, driver's license, or ID card looks, don't post it online. For a few laughing emojis you could end up giving your identity away. Even if you edit to blur out the details, hackers have their ways. Don't risk it.

#3 Travel Ticket/Boarding Pass

This is a common one on the list of things you should never share on social media. People love to share the boarding pass photo just before embarking on a vacation or business trip. Not only are you declaring to the criminal world that your apartment will be empty, but you will also be giving them your personal information.

The barcode on a flight boarding pass contains personal details such as your full name, flight number, and passport number. Information that could either be used in ID theft or in a phishing scam.

#4 Current location

Sharing your current location can pose real-life risks through online means (as well as social media risks). By telling everyone where you are and who you are with (or if you are alone), you could be inviting all sorts of criminal activities your way. Robbery, theft, trafficking, or child abduction are all very real and very scary possibilities.

#5 Personal details

Of course, this goes without saying but the problem is, we often share personal details on social media without realizing it. For example, let's say you post a photo of your birthday celebration and maybe there's a balloon or a cake stating your age. Hey, presto! Cybercriminals have your date of birth and probably your full name from your profile. This could be all they need to take over or hack into ALL of your online accounts including your online banking.

One Google poll found that 59% of Americans use their name or their date of birth in passwords. Another Google report discovered that 52% reuse their passwords across multiple accounts. The lesson here is to be careful of what your share and have better password hygiene!

#6 Corporate data

With more people working from home the risk of accidentally sharing confidential work data has increased. If you must post photos showing off your home office, make sure you don't also share sensitive corporate information. Is your work laptop or desk full of papers in the shot? Or perhaps the whiteboard with designs or a sticky note with a password written on it? Be aware of your surroundings so you don't share more than you mean to.

How to protect your privacy on social media: Tips for safe sharing

The only way to keep your personal data 100% private and avoid all social media risks is to not share anything on social media at all and delete your accounts. But that might be a little drastic for some. If you do want to continue sharing, then here are a few tips to do it with as little risk to your privacy as possible.

Follow our advice on how to protect your privacy on social media and hopefully you can avoid the social media risks.

Keep privacy settings strict

Whatever social media platform you're using, adjust the privacy settings to ensure the only people who see your posts are the people you know and trust. Even if you've previously set your account to private, check it regularly. Settings can sometimes change when a site updates its privacy policies and this could leave your account open to the public without your knowledge.

Think about it first

Before you share any selfies, take a good look around you- is there anything you don't want people to see? Before you post any photo take a good look at it, even zoom in, and make sure nothing is readable and there is nothing personal or sensitive on the shot. If you're posting thoughts, opinions, or life updates, ask yourself, what does this reveal about my personal or professional life and the people in it? Could it lead to one of those social media risks mentioned above?

Avoid the viral quiz questions

This tip on how to protect your privacy on social media might seem like a party pooper, but trust us! Those seemingly innocent “fun” posts that ask for personal details such as your first pet's name, mother's maiden name, nickname in school, the first street you grew up on, or your favorite color are just priming you for those social media risks. This is a kind of phishing tactic as cybercriminals know that these details are commonly used in passwords.

Limit what you share

Sometimes it's not the single post that's the problem but the sheer number of posts that could set you up for social media risks to your privacy. If your accounts are public, cybercriminals can gather together all the pieces of yourself that you have shared across your social media accounts. Together, they can give a very accurate picture of who you are.

Bad actors can easily figure out who you are related to, hang out with, where you work, and who your colleagues are. They can see your hobbies, and interests, get a sense of your personality, and even how you act and talk. They can even use audio bites or images to create “deepfakes” and fool anyone on your friend list into believing they are you. Not only are you putting your own privacy at risk, but that of your family and friends.

Remember, privacy tools can't hide what you post!

In learning about how to protect your privacy on social media, you might be wondering why we haven't mentioned privacy tools like Hoody.

Hoody can provide privacy when it comes to hiding your online movements, stopping all trackers, and removing your digital fingerprints. But if you use Hoody and then choose to share your personal information on your account, it will still be there for everyone to see.

Privacy tools, like Hoody, protect you from trackers, but they can't protect you from yourself.

Once information is on the internet, it's almost impossible to completely erase it and you never know who will see it. This means a post today could leave you open to social media risks in the future. Don't be your own worst enemy when it comes to your privacy because once it's gone, it's very hard to get it back.

READ MORE: How To Guard Your Private Information and Delete Unwanted Content from Facebook