But since social media can still be considered at its infancy as the world is getting used to the virtual life that extends beyond boundaries, there are a lot of precautions that need to be taken in order to keep your data secure online. Although Snapchat might seem like a harmless app where anything you post is deleted within seconds, not everything is as black and white as it might seem to be.
Share Only With Friends
The best way to protect your privacy online is to share your social updates with only your friends, as you would share your social life with them in the real world too. By default, Snapchat sets a user’s account to friend-only, which means that only those users which have added you back can send Snaps or see yours. Setting it to Anyone will allow everyone using Snapchat to be able to access and take a peek at your snap. Now, you wouldn’t allow strangers to peek into your house as you celebrate with your friends right? Then why would you do that on Snapchat? Beware of prying eyes. This also means that you should avoid sharing your Username or Snapcode publicly on other social media profiles that you own — or else you’ll be doling out an open-invite to strangers for your party.
Turn on 2FA
Securing your account from unauthorised access is crucial to security on the internet and one of the better options to secure your login is the two-factor authentication. To enable it, you’ll need to head to the settings in your Snapchat app by clicking on the ‘Ghost’ icon on the top of the screen and then tapping on the ‘cog’ settings icon. Scroll down to where you see ‘Login Verification’ and tap on it. In the new screen, scroll to the bottom and tap on ‘Continue’. You can choose to verify your profile via Text or an Authentication App and then feed received the code to the app.
Be Careful What You Post
Posting ludicrous updates on Snapchat has become a norm among users, but you should be careful about what you post on the service. Even though Snapchats are programmed to self-destruct after a certain time frame or after all the intended recipients have viewed it, there are third-party applications which allow other users to save your Snaps before they’re gone for good. Yes, and there is the option of taking a screenshot too. So, whenever you’re posting on Snapchat, keep in mind that whatever you post mind end up staying on the internet forever.
Disable Quick Add
Hiding from Quick Add is another useful way to protect your privacy and secure your account at the same time. Disabling your profile from Quick Add means that friends of friends or people from your phone contact list will not be able to find and add you via the ‘Quick Add’ section on Snapchat. Not all the friends of your friends are your friends or phone numbers on your device are of your friends, so it’s a good idea to directly add and let your friends add you rather than take up the ‘Quick Add’ route. To disable Quick add, access the settings within the Snapchat app, scroll down to ‘Who Can’ sub-heading and find ‘See Me in Quick Add’. Uncheck the box on the next screen. A bonus tip — also one that is reiterated over the internet — is to keep a strong password. If you do not believe in the power of password manager (or lack thereof), then don’t forget to check out this post by Ajinkya, it might help.
