The use of social media is increasing day by day not only for entertainment but also for business purposes. On average most of the people spend 2…3 hours daily on social media. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tiktok, Quora, Snapchat, YouTube and Tinder connect us to the world. And provide information about everything happening in this world. As everyone is using social media so the threat to their Data protection also increases. Now I will discuss some points so you know the importance of social media privacy.
Privacy
Privacy means you have a right to keep your personal information and actions protected from others. It means you have a right to decide with whom you can share your personal information.
Data Protection
Data protection is a broad term which means to maintain privacy of individuals. It also means that any company is not allowed to violate anyone’s privacy.
The Importance of Data Protection
Data protection is very important to protect personal information of users from misuse. Social media platforms are using large amount of your data including your name, address, phone numbers, photos and access to your phone. As many users are using these social media platforms so the threat to privacy increases.
Users have less privacy issue from social media platforms. But they have more risk from hackers who hack your account from social media platforms. And they use your data for blackmailing and frauds. So understanding the privacy on social media is important for both users and organizations.
Legal laws on Privacy and Social Media issues
Many legal laws are formed to protect the privacy of social media users. The most important one is General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of European Union. The GDPR make sure that companies follow some rules. Before taking personal information of users and users have more control on their personal activity than the companies.
In the United States, Megan’s Law is the well-known law. Megan’s law protect the public from sexual violence. This law was formed in 1996 and now it is included in many sexual offender laws.
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is another law that gives right to people of California to know what type of personal information is collected by social media apps. And they have the right to delete their personal information if they want.
To maintain Privacy on social media is very complex as these platforms are working in many countries. So person data moves to different countries and every country has it awn rules and regulations.
Moreover, social media platforms share their user’s information with third parties like different agencies, analytical companies and with the government.
Social media and Advertisement
Many social media companies take much of the personal information of its users to understand their interest. And show relevant advertisements in their feed. It generates a great profit for the companies like Facebook. They sell their products by showing customer relevant product to them. Facebook not only collect data from its customers but also from other social media apps to advertise their products according to customer interest. So the people who are not directly using these type of social media platforms become part of this privacy issue.
How to protect your Social Media?
First of all read the privacy policy, which most of us skip to save our time. You have to make sure you do not trust blindly on any platform. It leads to many privacy issues.
Then you have to use different passwords and usernames for your social media accounts. And passwords should be strong which are not easily accessible to anyone. Passwords include character, numbers both upper and lowercase letters and some signs to make it more unique and strong.
Before posting any personal information you have to check your privacy settings to see who can see it. It is not only related to your data, sometime people share photos and videos of their relatives and friends which is dangerous for their privacy also.
If even after everything your data is hacked or misused you can feel free to contact to your countries social media management team who can quickly take action.
What you should do if your Social Media account got hacked?
If your social media account get hacked you should not become panic. First of all you can try to access to your account by using your passwords. Then change your phone number and email address. After you gain access to your account, enable the two step verification process and check is there anything mishandled on your account. And try to save your personal data from any other misuse.
After doing all those things, now you should complain against the hacker to social media help center. If your personal information is mishandled then you should complain to cybercrime authorities.
Conclusion
Data protection in social media is critical issue because user personal information is on risk. In Social media campaigns, it is necessary to have discussions on these type of issues. Where users of social media face many privacy issues.
Frequently Asked Questions About Data Protection in Social Media
Q. What is data protection in media?
A. Data protection in media means protecting personal information which is collected from media organizations.
Q. How can social media protect data privacy?
A. Social media can protect your privacy by allowing users to read and understand privacy policy. And applying strong passwords to control their information
Q. Why is it important to protect your privacy on social media?
A. Protecting your privacy on social media is important to prevent your data from hackers and thefts. As these platforms share its user information with third party so privacy is crucial.
Q. What is social media protection?
A. It involves strategies to prevent your data from hackers and phishing. It also includes using strong passwords, enabling two step verification and check frequently what you are posting on your account.
