How to Lock Your Facebook Profile for Enhanced Privacy and Security

Facebook started as a closed college network for students to connect with each other. Today, it has morphed into a quasi-public square for billions loaded with highly targeted advertising. Default public visibility settings combined with psychological hooks pressure users to share more personal data openly over time. But what are the privacy risks of such mass oversharing? How can users take back control?

The Rise of Ambient Privacy Threats

Back in 2010 when Facebook’s user base was under 500 million, its founder Mark Zuckerberg infamously dismissed privacy concerns with the stance that social norms had evolved, saying:

“People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information… more openly and with more people. That social norm is just something that has evolved.”

But research shows the gradual erosion of privacy boundaries on social media creates “ambient privacy threats” precisely due to this evolution in norms that pressures ordinary users to share increasing amounts of personal information openly with expanding groups of vague connections. The result is most users share far more publicly now than they would have a decade or two ago.

This steady shift is by design, not just social change. Let‘s analyze some examples of how tech platforms prod users into sharing personal data openly by default:

• Facebook’s “Real Name” policy requires users to share their real identities, not even allowing pseudonyms in most cases. This makes targeting more lucrative.

• Facebook‘s interface pushes users to adopt public visibility as the norm by having them take multiple steps to limit audiences for each post.

• Features like birthday notifications, life event announcements, memory highlights and tagging prompts encourage more sharing of personal data for engagement and visibility.

• Friends lists are now prioritized based on AI calculations of who you “care about most“ thanks to Project Amplify, rather than who you actually interact with often. This pressures users to share more with wider groups to stay relevant.

• Timeline visibility settings default back to public every time new features roll out. Most users are unaware of new sharing defaults buried in confusing interfaces.

Thanks to above patterns, users share much more publicly now than they estimate. Per a 2021 Pew Research survey, 48% of adult Facebook users did not know the platform’s default setting shares their posts with a public audience.

In this environment, conscious choice has been replaced by unconscious sharing, making our personal information everyone’s business all too easily. But locking down your Facebook profile can be an empowering first step to reclaiming privacy.

Key Reasons to Lock Your Profile

Locking your profile restricts visibility to only confirmed friends, reducing ambient privacy risks. Main benefits are:

1. Prevent Profile Scraping

When profiles are public, advertising trackers and data brokers can easily scrape all available personal information from posts, photos, job histories, education, bio, interests and social connections. This data then feeds into building detailed behavior and marketing profiles of individuals for targeting, analytics and resale purposes.

Locking profiles cuts off this uncontrolled harvesting of personal data significantly.

2. Reduce Identity Theft Risks

Publicly visible personal information like birthdays, addresses, family member names and photos make identity theft easier. Scammers build profiles of victims using social media alongside breached databases.

41% of identity theft victims surveyed in 2020 reported personal information exposure through social media as a key vector. Locking Facebook profiles limits this threat surface.

3. Minimize Stalking and Doxxing Vulnerabilities

71% of women who faced stalking in the US reported it occurred partly or wholly online. An abusive ex, unstable acquaintance or determined harasser can easily gather key information like residence, workplace, routines, interests, relationships, photos and biometrics from a public profile. This data enables stalking, doxxing, swatting, reputation sabotage or harassment campaigns. A locked profile adds protection against these scenarios.

4. Prevent Employment Discrimination

Employers sometimes reject candidates found drinking or making political arguments on social media. While unfair, a public history of normal human activities can disadvantage you. Locking the profile prevents such exposure. You still benefit from positive professional connections visible to your network.

5. Shield Minors from Exploitation

Children under 13 years old are barred from Facebook, but tweens often lie about their age to create accounts putting themselves at risk. Locking down profiles to confirmed friends is vital for kids. Internet Watch Foundation data showed criminal grooming and exploitation shifting heavily to Instagram and TikTok in 2022. Privacy measures are essential.

6. Reduce Anxiety from Overexposure

The pressure to present perfect “highlights reels” coupled with fears of being judged for normal activities can create social media induced anxiety for 6 in 10 users as per Reddit’s 2022 study. Locking profiles limits your exposure alleviating such pressures substantially.

Now that we have covered major reasons for locking down access, let‘s explore what exactly happens when you toggle the lock and how to do it across platforms.

What Does Locking Your Profile Do?

When you lock your Facebook profile, here is what changes:

• Only confirmed friends can search and view your profile or posts
• Strangers and public cannot see your profile content
• Friends lists also become private
• People not your friends cannot send you friend requests or messages
• You can choose to limit visibility of future and old posts separately

Importantly however, some elements remain public even after locking:

• Your name, profile photo, cover photo and username remain visible publicly
• Anyone can send you friend requests, but they won’t see replies without your approval
• Posts shared publicly are visible, but profile details stay hidden

Now let us go through step-by-step instructions to lock profiles on desktop and mobile apps.

Step-by-Step Guide to Lock Profile

You can easily lock your Facebook profile and restrict visibility in a few minutes. Follow these steps:

On Mobile

1. Open the Facebook app and tap the hamburger menu on the top right
2. Select “Settings & privacy”
3. Tap on “Settings”
4. Choose “Privacy” settings
5. Scroll down and enable “Limit Past Posts”
6. Tap “Profile and tagging”
7. Enable “Review tags people add to your posts before the tags appear on your profile”
8. Scroll up and toggle “Profile lock” on
9. Confirm locking your profile

On Desktop

1. Click the down arrow icon on Facebook’s top bar and select “Settings & privacy”
2. Click “Settings” on the left rail
3. Choose “Privacy” settings
4. Enable “Limit Past Posts” under “Activity Privacy”
5. Under “How people find and contact you,” set “Who can see your friends list?” to “Only Me”
6. In “Profile Visibility” settings, set “Who can see posts others tag you in on your profile?” and “Who can see what others post on your profile?” to “Only Me”
7. Enable “Review tags people add to your posts before the tags appear on Facebook?”
8. Toggle “Profile Lock” on
9. Confirm profile lock

Voila! Your profile is now locked down tight. Only friends can view your info or posts unless you share any specific piece of content publicly.

Customizing Profile and Post Privacy

Locking the profile restricts access broadly across Facebook. But you can further fine tune privacy controls:

Profile Privacy Controls

Post Audience Controls

Adjustment example: You can share posts publicly but have your profile details like work history or family visible only to friends. Or have past party posts hidden while keeping new hobby updates public.

Unlocking Your Profile

You can reverse profile locks fairly easily when needed temporarily.

On mobile:

1. Tap your profile picture
2. Select the 3-dots settings icon
3. Choose to unlock profile and confirm

On desktop:

1. Click down arrow at top right
2. Go to Settings > Privacy
3. Toggle off Profile Lock

This opens up your profile again. You can re-lock it instantly with the same steps.

Do You Want to Completely Delete Facebook Instead?

Pros and Cons of Deleting Facebook

Deactivating your profile removes some access while retaining data for reactivation later, while fully deleting an account erases information irreversibly.

Consider the tradeoffs:

Pros

• Totally eliminate ambient privacy threats from the platform
• Prevent all future data gathering about you
• Reduce anxiety, depression or addiction issues caused by app usage
• More time for real-world activities away from screens
• Avoid censorship, algorithm manipulation, echo chambers and polarization

Cons

• Lose access to messages, photos and contacts
• Get left out of events or updates from groups and Pages
• Disconnection from certain communities and causes
• FOMO (fear of missing out) when friends share memories
• Lose family connections abroad without alternative communication means

There are good reasons for people to quit Facebook, but connections loss can also cause grief. Weigh your personal circumstances carefully. You can also take a temporary break first or transition slowly while redirecting connections.

Facebook Privacy Protection Alternatives

If leaving Facebook altogether is too disruptive, safer alternatives to explore include:

• Use ALT Facebook accounts anonymously for activism needs
• Adopt multi-layer authentication protections
• Install tracker blocking and anti-fingerprinting browser extensions
• Leverage VPNs, private search engines and encrypted messaging
• Share selectively rather than automatically to wider Friend Lists
• Prune friends lists, leave public groups and unlike trackable Pages
• Enable every possible privacy setting like facial recognition bans
• Minimize persona details shared online even privately
• Cultivate identity mindfulness overall

Facebook will keep eroding privacy boundaries incrementally to expand revenue. But we do not have to passively accept. Make informed choices based on your needs instead of their metrics.

Arm yourself with knowledge, tools and a proactive security posture. Together, we can reclaim our data autonomy.

Key Takeaways on Locking Profiles

• Enhance Privacy by restricting profile access to only confirmed friends
• Reduce Stalking/Doxxing Risks from abusive contacts or strangers being able to access personal information
• Minimize Identity Theft by limiting exposed personal data that can enable social engineering attacks
• Improve Mental Health through reduced anxiety and overexposure from mass audiences judging lives
• Customize Content Sharing through granular settings for profile details, posts, photos, videos and stories
• Combine Profile Locking with broader privacy best practices for optimal risk reduction

The key insight is that mass personal data exposure by default is NOT inevitable, once we understand the landscape. We can thoughtfully lock down and optimize our visibility settings based on our distinct needs. Small steps by individuals collectively shape the technology environment we inhabit together.