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Business
Digital Privacy: Five Steps to Secure Your Smartphone and Social Media This Summer
Herz — Business Desk · · 30s summary · 2 min read
The essentials
The Data Protection Commissioner of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania issued five practical recommendations on July 17, 2026 to help users secure mobile devices and online accounts during the summer break. These key steps include creating strong unique passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, reviewing privacy settings on social platforms, auditing app permissions, cleaning up contacts, and updating social media profiles. By implementing these five actions, users can significantly reduce their digital security risks and protect their personal data.
- Use a strong, unique password for each online account and enable two-factor authentication wherever possible
- Review privacy settings on each platform to control who can find your profile, view posts, and contact you
- Audit and disable unnecessary app permissions that access location, microphone, photos, or other sensitive data
- Remove unknown followers, unwanted contacts, bots, and fake profiles from your social networks
- Review and delete or update old posts and pinned content that no longer reflect your current identity
What We Know
The Data Protection Commissioner of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania issued five practical recommendations on July 17, 2026 to help secure mobile devices and online accounts during the summer break.
The Five Recommended Steps
Step one: use a strong, unique password for each account, enable two-factor authentication wherever possible, and use a password manager.
Step two: review the privacy settings on each platform. This means checking who can find your profile, view your posts, comment, share, or contact you.
Step three: audit app permissions. Many apps receive extended access rights by default upon installation. Any unnecessary access—such as an alarm app accessing photos, or a social or streaming app having permanent access to the microphone or location—should be disabled or limited to active use only.
Step four: clean up your contacts. The authority recommends removing unknown followers, unwanted contacts, bots, and fake profiles, and systematically declining friend requests from strangers.
Step five: review your social media profile. Old posts, pinned content, or highlights that no longer match your current identity should be deleted or updated.
What Remains Uncertain
The recommendations do not specify which platforms or operating systems they primarily apply to. No specific tools, services, or applications are mentioned by name.
FAQ
Why use a different password for each account?
The authority recommends a strong, unique password per account, combined with two-factor authentication and a password manager, to prevent a single breach from compromising multiple accounts.
What should you check in social media privacy settings?
You should verify who can find your profile, view your posts, comment, share, or take contact with your account.
Which app permissions should you prioritize monitoring?
Unnecessary access to permanent location tracking, microphone, and photo permissions should be disabled or limited to active app use only.
What should you do with friend requests from strangers?
The authority recommends systematically declining them and removing unknown followers, bots, and fake profiles already in your contact lists.
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