How to Protect Your Privacy on Social Media

Marc Saltzman,

Updated February 27, 2025

AARP

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Published July 05, 2022

/ Updated February 27, 2025

Social media remains incredibly popular among older Americans: More than half of those 50 and older spend time on the two most popular platforms.

Apps such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok are great for remaining connected, sharing interests, staying on top of news and streaming entertaining videos — yep, like kittens chasing puppies around the house — but these sites have some privacy and security risks. Because you’re divulging personal information online, you could be more vulnerable to scams and identity theft.

You’re also allowing social media companies access to your data for more targeted advertising and other purposes. After all, nothing is really free, even if you aren’t charged a monthly bill.

And don’t forget the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal. Facebook conceded that as many as 87 million user profiles may have been shared with the London-based political consulting firm without users’ consent.

No matter which social media platforms you enjoy, here are some suggestions to minimize exposure of your private information. You’ll find a lot of the controls under Settings in the various apps.

Explore the settings on Bluesky’s open network

Created by ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Bluesky has emerged as a buzzworthy competitor to X, owner Elon Musk’s new name for Twitter. Whether you use the Bluesky app or website, tweaking your privacy settings is easy.

On the app, tap the three horizontal lines ≡ in the upper left and choose Settings. On the website, you’ll see Settings under your phone on the left side of the screen.

Once inside, select Privacy and security to enable two-factor authentication as an extra layer of protection, manage your password, and select other apps you might allow to access to your Bluesky account. Bluesky cautions that other apps and websites still might show your content to logged-out users if not selected.

That’s because Bluesky is an open and public network. Anyone on the web can see your posts, even those who do not post to Bluesky. However, you can filter out what you don’t want to see.

A little more detail:

Your posts and likes are public.
You can mute, the word Bluesky uses to filter someone out, privately.
All blocks, where neither you nor a blocked account can interact with one another, are public.
People create mute lists that are public, but if you subscribe to one or more, that action is private.
Invites are private.

Bluesky has no private profiles. So if you’re not comfortable with Bluesky’s open approach, don’t use the social media platform.

Do a Privacy Checkup on Facebook

Privacy Checkup guides you through some of your privacy and security settings on Facebook, so you can review your choices to make sure you’re sharing only with people you want.

On a computer, click the downward triangle symbol ▼ at the top right of your screen. Choose ⚙ Settings & privacy | Privacy Checkup.
On an iPhone or iPad, tap the three horizontal lines ≡ at the lower right | ⚙ Settings gear icon | Privacy Checkup.
On an Android device, tap the three horizontal lines ≡ at the top right | ⚙ Settings gear icon | Privacy Checkup.

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In Who Can See What You Share, you can review and change your own profile information and decide who will see your posts and other information. This may include your email address, phone number, birthday, hometown and relationship status.

Your options include Public for anyone on Facebook, Friends for your Facebook friends, Friends except... for omitting posts to some friends, Specific friends for sharing post with only certain friends and Only me for your eyes only. You also have a Custom option to include and exclude specific people or lists of people that you’ve created.

The checkup also shows settings for apps you’ve logged into with Facebook, such as Pinterest, Spotify and Yelp. You can edit who sees each one and delete any you don’t want anymore.

Gain power over Instagram posts

You can control who can see your Instagram posts, who can comment on your posts and who follows you. You also can limit how others interact with your Instagram account.

Your Instagram account is public by default, but you can choose to make your account private at any time.

On a computer, click your photo at the top right | ⚙️ Settings | Settings and privacy | Account privacy.
On a mobile device, tap the photo icon at the bottom right, three horizontal lines ≡ at the top right | Settings | Account privacy.

Now you can switch between a public or private account; show activity status, which allows others to see when you were last active or if you are currently active; permit people to share your story as messages; and allow comments.

Check your privacy settings on LinkedIn

Owned by Microsoft, LinkedIn is the de facto business-centric social media platform with more than 1 billion members in more than 200 countries and territories as of mid-2024.

It, too, offers privacy settings. In the app or on the website, tap your small circular photo at the top right and choose Settings & Privacy | Data privacy. Under Who can reach you, you’re able to toggle options such as:

Invitations to connect. Everyone on LinkedIn is on by default, but you can narrow this to a more select group.
Invitations from your network to allow or block page, event, and newsletter invitations.
Messages to allow requests, InMail options, and recruiters reaching out to you.
Research invites to allow LinkedIn or marketers to send you surveys and requests for feedback.

Tweak your TikTok settings

TikTok narrowly averted a U.S. ban in early 2025 because of national security concerns about its Chinese owner, ByteDance. Lawmakers are worried that the company might hand over user data to the Chinese government if requested.

The fate of the popular app is still up in the air for its nearly 170 million U.S. users. But you do have some control.

Here’s how to change your privacy settings now:

On a computer, go to TikTok.com, click your profile at the top right corner of the page, followed by Settings | Privacy.
On a mobile device, open the TikTok app, click Profile at the bottom right, then the three horizontal lines ≡ near the top. Now select Settings and privacy.

You can manage your account, including whether it’s public or private; decide whether to synchronize your contacts or Facebook friends; choose personalized or randomized advertisements; determine if you want to download your data; allow for comments or not; and decide if you want to allow public photos and videos to appear in search engine results.

Manage your privacy on WhatsApp

Also owned by Meta — the same parent company as Facebook, Instagram and Threads — WhatsApp has more than 2 billion monthly users worldwide. About 100 million are in the U.S. as of 2024.

WhatsApp differs from its sister apps primarily in that it focuses more on private one-on-one or group communication, whether via text, voice or video.

You can publicly update your status for other WhatsApp friends to see. An example: “Enjoying Spain! Talk to you all la próxima semana!” But WhatsApp is more of a private, ad-free experience with end-to-end encryption.

By tapping the Settings icon in the lower right-hand corner of WhatsApp, you can tweak some privacy and security settings in the Privacy checkup area.

This includes adjusting settings related to who can see your profile picture, last seen status, and online status; who can add you to groups; who can contact you; and who can see your status updates. These privacy settings also let you control who can see your About information.

Examine the privacy, security settings on X

Formerly Twitter, X remains a very popular but often controversial social media platform for its estimated 50 million American users. Worldwide it has 600 million monthly users, according to billionaire owner Elon Musk.

To access, review and change your privacy and security settings, tap or click on your profile photo in the upper left corner of the smartphone app or on the web More above the Post button in the left rail. Then select ⚙️ Settings and privacy near the bottom.

Under the Privacy and safety tab, you can manage what info you allow other people on X to see, decide what content you want to see, mute and block accounts, review who can directly message you and control your discoverability settings. Tap back to go to the main Settings and privacy screen.

Choose Security and account access to manage your X account’s security, including password reset, two-factor authentication and ID verification. You also can keep track of account usage, including apps you have connected to your account.

7 pieces of good advice on privacy across all platforms

1. Read the privacy policy. While breaches can still happen, ensure you understand what the company is collecting about you and how that information is being used. If you’re uncomfortable, don’t use the service.

2. Ask not to be tracked. Apple gives you an option to not have an app track you, and Android devices allow the same feature within each app’s settings. If you opt out, these app companies won’t know where you’ve gone before and after your social media visit. You will still see advertisements, but they won’t be tied to your searches and website visits.

3. Use strong passwords. Don’t just use long and strong passwords with eight or more letters, numbers, symbols, and upper and lowercase characters. Keep away from your kids’ and pets’ names, and your birth year. Perhaps most importantly, don’t use the same password for more than one site or app.

4. Opt for two-factor authentication. Sometimes called multifactor authentication, social media sites and apps should give you the option to prove it’s really you with not just your password but also a one-time code sent to your mobile device that also must be typed in.

5. Think twice before posting. Do you really need to show vacation photos before you’ve returned home, advertising that your place is empty? And if you’re upset about a topic on the news, take a deep breath and make sure you don’t write something you’ll regret later.

6. Avoid scams. Know that scam artists come after your money in many ways, so don’t be naive when you receive a message about an “urgent” opportunity. Just delete, block and report.

7. Close unused accounts and delete your data. Don’t just deactivate your account. Your information may remain on a company’s servers, so ask the social media platform to delete your data.

This story, originally published July 5, 2022, adds four additional social media platforms and updates instructions on the initial three.

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