Internet: How to use social networks safely

A basic principle : Always take the time to think about what you are about to publish online. Especially when the information concerns your personal life; it is best to keep these exchanges for the phone and meetings outside of social networks.

Adjust your settings

If you want to prevent promotional sites, pranksters, or future employers from accessing your profile, you'll need to change the privacy settings of your page on Facebook, Twitter, or another similar network. In the "Account Privacy Settings" section, you can also restrict access to selected people.

Additionally, access to statuses, photos, and pages you're a fan of can be managed from a "dashboard." To prevent Google from finding your profile, for example on Facebook, you'll need to change your settings for apps, games, and websites. You'll notice a button called "Public Search"; this is the one that allows you to make your Facebook page inaccessible to search engines. A tab called "Facebook Advertising" will allow you to opt out of this option.

A good cleaning

Did you know that you can use a company to "clean up" data on the Net? By paying a monthly fee of around 9 to 10 euros, companies such as Reputation Squad, in France, or ReputationDefender, in the United States, monitor and offer to remove potentially harmful information.
You can also use an ad blocker: you can find one (free to download) by typing "ad blocker" into Google. The system simply hides the banners.