Twitter is, by default, a public platform. When we sign up for a Twitter account, all our tweets are automatically available to anyone who wants to know, including - if we've shared it - information about where we are, when.
When we tweet, we generally don't visualise every possible person who might be reading the tweet or looking at your photos, now or five years, ten years into the future. And we might actually not want to give all the world so much information about who we are, what we do, who we're friends with and where we are or are likely to be.
This page covers how to control what you're sharing on twitter, and with who.
CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS: BROWSER & MOBILE
On your browser: Click on your profile picture --> settings --> security and privacy
On your mobile: click on Me --> [small wheel icon] --> Twitter --> privacy
Photo Tagging
Do not allow anyone to tag me in photos
Privacy pros: Though others can still upload photos of you, you can't be publically tagged in them.
Tweet Privacy
Protect My Tweets
Privacy pros: People will need your permission before they can follow you (though you will keep all the followers you have now). Future tweets will only be visible to your followers, no-on can retrweet your tweets, and your tweets will not show up in Google search results.
Limitations: you can't eply to tweets posted by non-followers.
Note: this only works on future tweets; all past tweets will still be public.
Tweet location: --> Protect your Location
--> Add a location to my tweets --> uncheck the box is not checked
Privacy pros: This prevents you accidentally posting a tweet which also posts your location data. This data is gathered automatically from your phone or computer IP. IS THIS CORRECT
If the box is checked: With each tweet you have the option to add location data or not.
Note: Location data can tell a very detailed story about you, and there are online tools available that enable people to easily map your movements.
-- > Delete all location information from past Tweets.
Note: This deletes the public location data from your past tweets - but Twitter continues to store this information.
-- > Discoverability --> deselect WHAT DOES THIS OPTION LOOK LIKE
Do you want people to be able to find your Twitter account through your email address? If you do not want your email address tied publically to your Twitter account, deselect this option.
--> Do not Track
CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS: MOBILE-ONLY
Location tracking --> switch it off HOW
TIPS TO INCREASE YOUR PRIVACY ON TWITTER
LINKING TWITTER TO OTHER ACCOUNTS
Some websites, social networks and apps give you the option of using your Twitter account to sign in; or to verify your identity by linking up your Twitter account to their service.
Note: If you do this, you're giving the website, social network or app - and the companies behind it, as wel as the companies these companie sell personal data to - access to your Twitter username, your lists of followers and following, your location (if you share it) and your tweets - even if you've set them to "Private".
HOW TO BE ANONYMOUS ON TWITTER
If you want to create a Twitter account using a pseudonym, be careful not to the same identifiers - name, email address, etc - in any other accounts, unless you want them all to be linked to the same pseudonymous identity.
Note: Using the same identifiers across accounts - names, email address, address, phone number etc - makes it much easier to 'unmask' you - especially when there are a number of online tools around to help people do this (eg Namechk https://namechk.com/)
Note: Be aware that this kind of 'anonymity' is only skin-deep. Twitter itself will still have access to your followers and those you follow, as well as where you tweet from (from your IP adress), and which email address is tied to your account. These pieces of information can be used to identify you.
DIRECT MESSAGING ON TWITTER
Note: Twitter always has access to your direct messages (DMs), and can store messages even when you have deleted them.
TWITTER LISTS
You can choose the level of privacy of your list. You can either make the list public to everyone or set it on private, that means only you can access the list. The latter one protects people and organisations that have been added to a certain list.
SECURITY: LOGIN VERIFICATION
Privacy pros: Twitter offers you a security feature to cofirm the login with phone confirmation. In twitter under the "Security & Privacy" -> "Login verification" protect from the password stealing, but the "cost" is that you've to give your phone number to twitter, and this can help heavily profiling and correlation. a dedicated phone number, such a voip provider, that can perfectly fit the needs.
