Privacy on Twitter

To help you protect your privacy on Twitter, we’ve put together some pointers about the types of information you might want to think about protecting while using the platform. You can find more about privacy, security and safety on Twitter’s help centre. PRIVACY ON TWITTER Your Twitter username: The username you select is always visible to other…

black and white siloed photo of a man looking through binoculars at a twitter logo

To help you protect your privacy on Twitter, we’ve put together some pointers about the types of information you might want to think about protecting while using the platform. You can find more about privacy, security and safety on Twitter’s help centre.

PRIVACY ON TWITTER

Your Twitter username: The username you select is always visible to other people using Twitter – however you do not have to choose a username that gives away your name or any personal details.

Your name: Twitter asks for your name when you set up your profile, however it is not a requirement for you to use your real name. If you do decide to include your name this will be visible publicly, even if you have your profile set to ‘Protect your Tweets’ mode.

Website: Twitter has a field where you can add your website details to your profile. This section is optional when setting up your account and is visible publicly even if you have your profile set to ‘Protect your Tweets’ mode.

Bio: Twitter has a section for you to include a short bio about yourself. This section is optional and is visible publicly even when your profile has been set to ‘Protect your Tweets’ mode.

Birth date: Twitter asks you to provide your date of birth when setting up your profile, however you can control who can see this on the platform. To be safe, it’s generally best to set this up so that only you can see it.

Location: Twitter asks you to provide your location when setting up a profile on the platform. Generally it’s best to keep this information as generic as possible by selecting a country rather than a city or town.

Your profile picture: Your profile picture is always public, which means that others using Twitter can see it. For extra privacy, some people choose to use a profile photo without their face visible in it, or a photo that doesn’t include them in it – e.g. a favourite photo of the beach.

Your Twitter posts: Twitter allows you to choose whether your Tweets are publicly visible, or whether you’d like them to only be visible to your selected followers using ‘Protect your Tweets’ mode. In ‘Protect your Tweets’ mode you will be sent ‘follow’ requests which you can either choose to allow or deny.

Comments: If you comment on a post, photo or video from someone else, then other people will be able to see this. Who can see it will depend on the privacy settings of the person/page who originally posted it. For example, if it was posted by your friend and they allow only their own Twitter followers to see their posts, then all of that friend’s Twitter followers will be able to see your comments on the post. If the post was originally posted by a Twitter profile who lets anyone see their posts (e.g. a news outlet or a clothing brand), then any comment you make will be visible to anyone on Twitter.

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