Information you post on social media is open for all to see. (Flickr, CC0)

One function of social media is to check out the latest trends, but horror stories of people getting important information leaked and having their identity stolen are now common. 

Though Facebook obtains personal information upon the creation of a new account, outsiders can still find that data out by different means. The easiest way for a third-party to collect data is by following specific people and reading their updates. While this may seem harmless, anyone can track others down just by reading “Heading to Cleveland for a game this weekend.” That means an empty house, for starters.

Information is also exposed in a similar fashion to ads that track where you’ve been by using cookies, which preserve data after reloading a website, and by accessing these cookies, the website or even hackers can find what other websites you’ve been to or find passwords that you use. What they do with the information varies, but from the most recent Cambridge Analytical scandal, Facebook claims it doesn’t sell the data they collect to anyone.

Of course, Facebook was hit especially hard by this event, so to recover, it has  promised to make new privacy and security options for users. For example, whenever someone uses their Facebook account or log in to another service such as Uber, that service gains access to your Facebook information. With the new upcoming Facebook security options, information sent out will become more limited, and users will see what other services they have used their Facebook account on. The user can also choose to revoke permission on certain apps or services.

Another feature that will be added for users is the feature to “unsend” their messages. This feature has been a part of Facebook since up to 2010, but only Mr. Zuckerberg and a few other executives could use it. Currently, users can delete messages from their side, but the recipients of those messages can still see them. This new “un-send” function will help users remove information that they may have accidentally shared to others.

Along with these planned changes, Facebook claimed to be cracking down on any companies or services that they find using data from user’s Facebook account incorrectly. With these changes, the chance of an event like this to happen again will come closer to zero. We hope.