Your Facebook account contains more than just your messages and photos. Facebook provides a lot of insight into your 'insides'. Think of your search history, private chats and the ability to use other services with a Facebook account. We discuss a few measures to tighten and check your security. This prevents unwanted access to your account, for example by a curious roommate.
Step 1: Notification
It's an open door, but we're kicking it anyway: choose a good password for Facebook that is unguessable and that you don't use anywhere else. You change your password via the basic settings of Facebook. Click on the menu (the arrow at the top right, next to the lock) and choose Institutions. You can set a new password via General / Password. It is possible to receive a message via email or text message if your Facebook account is used. Look at Security / Login Alerts. If you have never set this up before, you can easily activate your email address. Prefer to receive a text message? click on Add another email or phone number. Also read: 9 tips to make Facebook fun again.
Step 2: In two steps…
One of the most important safety barriers can be found at Security / Login Approvals. Another name for this part is 'two-step verification'. Activate the option Require a login code (…). You will receive a code via SMS that you must enter after the password verification. You can also bypass the code by scanning a QR code. To do this, activate the option Security / Code Generator. To scan the QR code, you need an additional security app on your smartphone, such as Google Authenticator. This app is available for iOS and Android and can be found in the app stores. A QR code is displayed on the screen. By scanning it with the Google Authenticator you get a code that only gives you access to your Facebook account.
Step 3: Account in use
To find out when your Facebook account is being used, see Security / Where you are logged in. This overview is useful if you suspect abuse of your account. You can see the IP addresses of the internet connection, the browser used and when the session started. click on End all activities to stop all logged in Facebook sessions. If you want to know which devices (usually smartphones and tablets) your Facebook account is set up on, look at Security / Recognized devices. You can easily remove devices from this overview, for example if your smartphone is broken or stolen.
