We examined Facebook to see how you can secure your account. Now it’s time to look at Twitter privacy settings. They’re a bit less comprehensive than Facebook, but Twitter doesn’t seem to go to the lengths Facebook does when it comes to data mining.
Privacy and Safety
Recommended Settings
To access these settings, click your profile picture at the top, then click Settings and privacy in the menu.
- Tweet Privacy—Protect your Tweets: This is a personal setting and means that only those you approve will see your tweets. Future tweets won’t be publicly available.
- Tweet Location—Tweet with a location: Uncheck this box. If you’ve previously tweeted with location data, there is a button here to delete this information.
- Photo Tagging: Check the box next to Do not allow anyone to tag you in photos. Alternatively, you can check Only allow people you follow to tag you in photos.
- Discoverability: Again, this one is personal, but if you don’t want people to look you up with your email address or phone number, uncheck both boxes.
- Address book: Don’t let Twitter access your contacts. If you want to add people in your contacts, either look them up or message them asking for their Twitter handle.
- Personalization and Data: Turn this off. This prevents Twitter from collecting your information to target you with ads. You’ll still see ads but they won’t be personalized.
- Direct Messages: Uncheck the box next to Receive Direct Messages from anyone. This stops random Twitter users from DMing you, and can potentially keep your inbox free of abuse.
That’s pretty much it for Twitter. We also have a guide to deauthorize third-party apps from your Twitter account. And like Facebook, don’t enter your real location or birth date into Twitter. Aside from privacy, this also prevents malicious people from skimming your account for personal info if they want to try to guess your passwords or security questions.