Increasing Security on Facebook

According to an article on makeusof.com, you can now see if someone else has logged into your Facebook account.

To do this, go under the "Account" tab and click on "Account Settings." Next to the "Account Security" section, click "Change."

Here it gives you a few options. You can put a checkmark next to "Secure Browsing" if you want to use a secure connection when using Facebook. It also gives you the option of Facebook sending you an e-mail whenever you log into your account from a new computer or mobile device. This is useful if you primarily log into your account from the same computer or device. However, it may be annoying if you log into Facebook from multiple locations.

Under the "Account Activity" section, it gives a list of your most recent activity, including the device or browser you used and the approximate location from which you logged in. To the right, you can click "End Activity" to stop that log-in session.

This video explains it further, as well as mentions other features such as one time passwords when logging in from an unsecure location.


I think this is a very useful feature. Facebook is constantly changing their privacy settings, so it's good that they are taking steps to help users with protecting their accounts. However, I wish they would bring more attention to these features so users know they can be utilized.

I don't have to tell you that we as college students have to be very careful about our privacy on Facebook, as potential employers could find our account information and check our profiles for anything that might damage our professional reputation. I personally have my account on the highest security settings, so that I cannot be found in search results and only my friends can see my profile information. Not that I have anything particularly incriminating to hide, but I would rather be safe than sorry and keep my personal information separate from my professional image.

One suggestion: avoid "liking" anything on public profiles or pages. I recently did a Google search of my name and even though my Facebook account is private, my name did turn up several times on public fan pages I had liked. We've been reading about controlling our digital footprint, and you don't want your search results to have anything you wouldn't want your future boss or co-workers to see.