Army Warns of New Facebook Interface

OCTOBER 5, 2020 – The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Major Cybercrime Unit recommends checking your user privacy and security settings due to a newly released interface for Facebook.

This month, Facebook users will stop seeing the ‘classic’ version, the one with the blue navigation bar at the top, on the widely used interface. Facebook plans to switch from the familiar interface to a proposed new way to use the interface.

The new Facebook interface was released a year ago, but users had the option to ‘opt-in’ to use the new interface. The interface change will cause many onscreen icons and prompts to appear differently and the layout of some menus will change.

According to Facebook, the ‘New’ version is an interface update placing more emphasis on Groups and Events – the two biggest reasons people visit Facebook every day. These changes also make the news feed less available on the new interface.

Although previous privacy settings should copy to the new Facebook interface, this is a good time for users to review current Facebook privacy settings, according to CID agents.

Privacy Checkup
Facebook has added a way to configure its various privacy settings. It is called Privacy Checkup. According to Facebook, it is a one-stop, configuration dialog.

To access Privacy Checkup, from the icons menu along the top of Facebook:

1. Click the down triangle.
2. Click Settings & Privacy.
3. Click Privacy Checkup
   

From the Privacy Checkup menu, a user can select individual privacy checks.

The following configurations are Army CID agents’ recommendations. Users are able to choose different settings to make a profile more publicly available. If so, agents suggest researching the ramifications of the settings you choose.

Who Can See What You Share
From the Privacy Checkup menu, select individual privacy checks.

From the Privacy Checkup dialog:

1. Click Who can see what you share.
2. Click Continue.
3. Make changes as necessary to match these shown and click Next. (Note: If there are options in addition to these, change those settings to Friends.)
4. Make changes as necessary and click Next. (If there are options in addition to these, change those settings to Friends as well.)
   

If you receive a friends request from someone you do not know or have a friend with whom you no longer want to have a Facebook friendship, you can block that person. If you block a user, that user will no longer be able to:

• See your posts.
• Tag you.
• Invite you to events or groups.
• Message you.
• Add you as a friends.
• Access your profile.

1. If user does not have any blocked users to unblock or does not want to add anyone to list of blocked users, click Next.
2. If user has previously blocked Facebook users, review the list by clicking See Your Blocked List. User can unblock any of those names by clicking See Your Blocked List and following instructions to remove users from blocked list.
3. To add a Facebook user to blocked user list, click Add to Blocked List.
4. Type the Facebook user name of the individual to block. As the name is typed, a list of candidates begins to appear. User may have to type the entire name or type a few characters before seeing the name of the user to block.
5. When the Facebook user’s name appears in the list you type, click Block.
6. Verify name of person intended to block and click Block.
7. Click Review Another Topic.

How To Keep Your Account Secure
From the Privacy Checkup dialog:

1. Click How to keep your account secure.
2. Click Continue.
3. Read Password Tips. If existing password is weak, click Change Password. If the existing password is satisfactory, click Next.
4. Enter your current password, new password and then re-type new password.
5. Click Save Changes.
6. Make changes as necessary and click Next.
7. Click Review Another Topic.
   

How People Can Find You on Facebook
From the Privacy Checkup dialog:

1. Click How people can find you on Facebook.
2. Click Continue.
3. Make changes as necessary and click Next.
4. Make changes as necessary and click Next.
5. Make changes as necessary and click Next.
6. Click Review Another Topic.
   

Your Data Settings on Facebook
From the Privacy Checkup dialog:

1. Click Your Data Settings on Facebook.
2. Click Continue.
3. Remove apps and websites that you have authorized to use Facebook to log into.
4. Click Next.
5. Click Review Another Topic.
   

Note: These Facebook configuration recommendations are based upon best information available at the time of publication but are not a guarantee of social networking safety. Facebook may have instituted configuration changes since publication. Users must exercise caution whenever interacting with social media.

Army personnel or their families who are victims of an Internet-based crime should report the crime to their local CID office. Individuals can also report crime tips to CID anonymously via a specialized application at https://www.cid.army.mil/report-a-crime.html.

Story by Ronna Weyland
U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command