Tech

How to keep your phone number private on your Facebook profile

THANKS TO SOCIAL MEDIA, we’re able to share our lives with friends. Especially on Facebook. But you need to be aware of how to protect your personal information through the site. Although you may filter yourself on social media, odds are you’re still vulnerable to unwelcome online visitors, thanks to one littleknown feature.

Those who keep their Facebook privacy setting ‘who can look me up by phone’ available to the public, are allowing their phone number to be viewed by anyone. This setting defaults to ‘Public’ view, so it could even be turned on without your knowledge.

Sounds a bit worrisome, right? It essentially means that anyone who wants to contact you – including scammers – can do so simply by taking a look at your Facebook profile.

If you want to keep your phone number from prying eyes but still want it on your profile, here’s what to do. • Open your Facebook page on your phone and go to your profile page.

• Click on the ‘More’ icon, then ‘View Privacy Shortcuts’.

• Several options will come up. Click on ‘Review a Few Important Privacy Settings’ and then ‘Next’ until you get to ‘Your Profile Privacy’. Scroll down to see if you have a number listed.

• If you have, and you want to keep it listed, you can change the default setting to ‘Friends’ or ‘Only Me’.

• If you don’t have a number listed and you want it listed, go back to your profile, click ‘Edit Profile’, scroll down and click on ‘Edit Your About Info’ then ‘Contact Info’ then ‘Edit’.