Taking care of your privacy and digital footprint

Snaps automatically disappear after they're sent but they can still be screenshotted so it's important to be careful.

 To change your privacy settings on Snapchat, go to your profile and tap the gear icon. Scroll down to "Who can...":

• Contact me: select friends only
• View my story: select friends only
• See my location: choose ghost mode
• Show me in quick: add Turn this off.

It can also help to remember:

• to block people you don't know who add you, including friends of friends

if you're in a group chat, anyone in the group can talk to you and see your messages.

There are lots of privacy settings on Facebook but there are a few simple steps you can make to help keep you safer. You can also use Facebook’s privacy check-up to get started.

Changing your privacy setting in the Facebook app

• tap the menu icon (3 horizontal lines)
• scroll down to Settings and Privacy
• tap Privacy shortcuts.

Important things to change on Facebook

• Who can see your posts
  Change the default to Friends for your future posts. If you're worried about people you're friends with seeing what you've written, you can select "Friends except" to choose who you don't want included. You can change who can see your past posts as well.
• People and pages that you follow
  Change this to friends only or to "Friends except" if there's someone you're friends with who you don't want included.
• Friends requests
  You can choose either everyone or friends of friends. Remember that even if someone is a friend of a friend, it doesn't mean you can trust them.
• Search engines linking to your profile
  Turning this off will stop people being able to search for you on sites like Google.
• Check what info is on your profile
  Make sure your phone number, school and address can't be seen publicly. Remember that if you're wearing something with your school logo then they can see where you go to school.
• Facebook live
  Only live stream to friends and don't share your location.

Instagram sets your account to public automatically, which means that anyone can see what you do or post.

If your account is private, you can approve who can see your photos and videos, and only people who you've approved can comment on your posts.

To set your account as private:

• go to your profile and tap menu (the 3 horizontal lines)
• tap settings
• Scroll down and select Privacy
• scroll down to Private Account and turn this on.

Remember that you can still block and report anyone who is bullying you on Instagram.

Your tweets are set to public automatically, this means that anyone can reply, retweet or favourite what you tweet.

If you protect your tweets, people won't be able to retweet you, and they can only view what you tweet if you approve them to follow you.

To protect your tweets:

• go to your account and select Settings and Privacy
• Select Privacy and safety
• Turn on “Protect your Tweets”.

WhatsApp will automatically allow people to see what's on your profile and when you were last on. Changing your privacy settings can help to keep you safe and stop people bullying or abusing you.

To change your settings:

• go to your settings and select Account
• Select privacy.

You can change the following settings:

• Last seen
  You can change this to My Contacts to stop people you don't know seeing if you've been online.
• Profile photo and info about you
  Setting this to My Contacts can help to keep people you don't know seeing information about you.
• Live location
  If you're sharing your location with anyone, you can turn this off here.

When you create an account on Skype, everyone can see your Skype name and location. The best way to keep your name and location private is to not include it on your profile.

You can hide your profile picture from people you don't know. How to do this depends on which type of device you're using, but you can find out how here.

To change who can contact you on Skype

• in the app, go to the menu (3 horizontal lines)
• scroll down to privacy
• set "Receive IMs From" and "Receive Calls From" to "Contacts Only".

Tumblr automatically sets your blog and profile to public, meaning that anyone can find and comment on them. You can change these settings to help protect yourself from abuse and keep your account private.

How to change your privacy settings depends on which type of device you're using. Find out how to change your privacy options.

You can change your Periscope privacy settings to decide:

• whether you'll appear on someone's Superfans list
• which live streams Periscope suggests you watch
• if people on your Facebook friends list can find you on Periscope.

To change your settings on the Periscope app:

• go to your profile page
• tap settings
• scroll down to Privacy
• tap the toggle for anything you want to switch off.

Find out more about changing your privacy settings on Periscope.

Your Tik Tok account is set to public automatically, that means that anyone can view or comment on your videos. It also means that people can search for your account on Tik Tok.

Change your privacy settings:

• go to your profile on the app
• tap the 3 dots in the top right hand corner
• select Privacy and Safety.

Changing these settings can help to keep your account safe:

• Allow others to find me
  Turning this off can help to stop people you don't know from seeing your profile.
• Private account
  When your account is private, only people you approve can see your videos and follow you.
• Who can send me comments
  Setting this to friends only can stop people you don't know posting nasty comments or pressuring you.

Most sites and apps will have a settings section where you can change your privacy settings.

If you’re not sure how much of your profile is public, try looking at it on someone else’s phone or looking online when you’re not logged in.