Sign up with a social media account
Short Tips
- +Why not easily create a single account? How does it work, an account to log in everywhere?
- One account is easy, you do not have to remember numerous passwords. But if you use one account then unauthorized people will also have access to everything if they know or find out your password. It will be pretty difficult then to protect yourself if your account is being misused. You will often also use this password for other things; if this is the case, not only your social account is in danger but for example also your home computer or home network, etc.
- +How does it work, an account to log in everywhere?
- Many platforms that we use on a daily basis have responded to the request of people to make the log-in process easier. Remembering 10 different user names with each their own password is not easy for everyone. That is why the big players have set up their own platform where they can propose you to use the user name and password you use for their services also for other applications. They manage the account and take care of access to other websites.
- +Why is this dangerous?
- You will see that, if you choose this option, the platform will immediately ask to share more information with them. For example, you want to log in to the app of your step counter and you use Facebook for this purpose. Then Facebook will quickly ask consent to track your steps, pictures, location, friends and other parts of the platform. Do you really want this? We know beforehand that all these data will end up in a big database that will be used to set up a profile of us for advertisement and sale of products, to change messages directed to us and to display your timeline differently because you are someone who takes a lot of steps… Relevant? Not really, but this is what happens.
- +Tips from PaSMaN?
We need more than one tip for this one. What you should do:
- Use different user names and passwords for different websites.
- Do not provide consent for information exchange between platforms unless you really want this.
- Use a password manager to safe keep your passwords
- Choose a strong password
- And when necessary, change this password on a timely basis
This is the only way to stop this. With this method you will not be surprised, and you will only keep your information on the platform or app for which it was intended
How to's
Can I use a social media account to log in to other services?
Many websites give you the possibility to use your social media account to log in rather than to manually set up an account. This is easy, quick and you only need to remember 1 password.
You will often see that your consent is asked to share certain data when you choose the option to use your social media account. This way, the social media platform receives insight into your behaviour on this website or app. For example, a step counter or pulse monitor is data that are synchronized with your phone or computer. Is it really the purpose that the social media channel gets insight on all this data? And why?
The purpose is quite clear, the more data a social platform can collect of you, the more value it has to sell for marketing purposes. Do you really want to receive ads from sports shoes on the basis of the number of kilometres you run? Or do you rather decide when you need new sports shoes?
A second disadvantage is that the security settings on social media are not always strict and do not require a strong password. On many platforms, a password of 6 characters is already sufficient, but these are easy to hack (read more about this here). Thus, if someone knows your password, they suddenly have access to all your accounts. Furthermore, you will no longer be able to access any linked websites when the social media website is no longer accessible because it is controlled via the social media system.
Different accounts for your applications seem like a lot of work, however it is very useful to consider and to make sure that not all of your personal information flows to this one platform. You never know to what this can lead in the future or when the platform is being misused (hacking).
