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You visit a number of apps — including social media apps — and you’re finding it difficult to remember all of your passwords.
This is a common problem, especially as we attempt to make each of our passwords unique and complex. And you may be tempted to allow some apps to just do the work for you and remember your passwords. Before you do that, keep this in mind: never save your passwords on this social media app, according to security experts.
Which apps should you allow to remember your passwords? The answer is personal — and has everything to do with your matter of trust in an app. But, when it comes to social media apps, one that often comes up as a questionable choice is Facebook (and that generally has a lot to do with the fact that the app collects your data and even tracks your online activity so that it target ads to you).
Facebook will ask you if you want it to remember your password. This is a choice you can make. And if you’ve decided that is the last thing you’d like, take these steps to ensure Facebook isn’t remembering your password:
Step 1
Open your Web browser and navigate to your Facebook page.
Step 2
Click the drop-down arrow next to Home to open a context menu.
Step 3
Click "Log Out." You'll be redirected to the Facebook login page.
Step 4
Clear your Web browser's cache (links in Resources).
Step 5
Click to remove the check mark from the "Keep me logged in" context box the next time you log in to Facebook. As long as that box remains unchecked, you'll be prompted for your account password every time you reopen your Web browser and navigate to facebook.com.
The most important thing you can do when you are creating passwords for your social media accounts is to make sure you are using a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, with numbers and symbols thrown in for good measure.
Or you could use a password manager: “There are many software options available to help you store and organize passwords. The beauty of a good password manager is the passwords are encrypted under one main very strong password. So instead of logging in to each thing, there’s just one.”
Other solid tips for keeping your social media apps secure include changing your password often, keeping your browser update, and taking full advantage of two-step authentication. You won’t necessarily have to restrict social media apps from saving your passwords — as long as you are taking the proper steps to create strong passwords and put safeguards in place.
