"Medienscouts MV": Use summer holidays to clean up social media

Young people in northeastern Germany can use their summer holidays to enhance their digital security and tidy up their social media presence. The "Medienscouts Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" project has released practical tips aimed at helping adolescents protect their data online. Sebastian Schmidt, the state commissioner for data protection and freedom of information and a partner in the initiative, emphasized the ease of implementation, stating, "With just a few minutes of effort, young people can significantly better protect their accounts and decide for themselves what information they reveal online."

The scouts recommend a multi-pronged approach. First, they advise a thorough review of passwords, suggesting the use of password managers for creating and organizing strong, unique credentials for each account. Secondly, they urge users to examine the privacy settings on individual platforms, questioning who can find their profile, see their posts, comment, or share content, and who can contact them.

Furthermore, the project highlights the importance of scrutinizing app permissions. Many applications request extensive access by default upon installation. Medienscouts encourage users to critically assess which permissions are truly necessary, questioning why an alarm clock app needs access to photos or why a video app requires constant access to location data. Permissions not essential for functionality should be deactivated or limited to times when the app is actively in use.

The initiative also addresses managing online connections, advising the removal of unknown followers, spam requests, and fake profiles. A general rule is to avoid accepting friend requests from strangers. Finally, users are encouraged to review their own profiles, deleting or updating old posts, pinned content, or highlights that no longer reflect their current identity. This process helps create a current and authentic online presence and allows for more conscious curation of content feeds.