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Staying in this Monday? It's a good time to check your Facebook privacy settings

All public posts are now searchable, and that could mean some old (and potentially embarrassing) posts could surface.

FACEBOOK RECENTLY MADE all public posts searchable, making more than two trillion older posts searchable to those using the service.

Before that, Facebook’s search feature was limited to just pages, events and groups, with the search of particular posts restrictive at best.

Since it’s now indexed these public posts, it means that anyone can find a specific post from any profile that’s now public, regardless of whether you are friends with them or not.

Facebook GIF Facebook Facebook

While most posts are innocent or banal, there may be a few that you might not want to see the light of day. There might even be some posts that you would have forgotten about entirely.

That said, you can take some measures to ensure your public posts aren’t accidentally searchable when it does arrive (also, it’s a bank holiday Monday so you may as well do something productive).

If you’re on desktop, go to the lock icon at the top right-hand corner of the screen and click on it. Here you will see the option ‘Who can see my stuff?’. Click on it and look at ‘Who can see my future posts’. If it’s public, change this.

Facebook privacy quick Facebook Facebook

Remember that if your latest post is set to public, Facebook will treat that as the default setting for future posts.

With regards to past posts, you have two options. You can either look at your profile and change the privacy settings for each post or you could click ‘More Settings’ at the bottom of the lock window and go into Limit Past Posts.

This is a brute force option, but if you go down this route, it will limit all posts to friends and friends of friends in certain cases like tagged photos.

Facebook limit past posts Facebook Facebook

Read: You can now use your fingerprint to purchase apps from Google Play* >

Read: How do you go from stock images to showcasing at the biggest tech event in the world? >

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15 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Therightman2015
    Favourite Therightman2015
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    Oct 26th 2015, 12:02 PM

    Delete Facebook, you’ll feel better, it’s the true cancer of society

    251
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute EdmundOrlando
    Favourite EdmundOrlando
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    Oct 26th 2015, 11:56 AM

    Facebook trawls through the phone numbers on your phone and then ‘suggests’ that you become friends with these people online. Biggest load of shite ever.

    143
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
    Favourite Neal Ireland Hello
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    Oct 26th 2015, 4:12 PM

    You mean they think the people who you phone or text all the time and whose phone numbers you have, might also be your fiends? How ridiculous and far fetched!

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Larry L'Oiseau
    Favourite Larry L'Oiseau
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    Oct 26th 2015, 8:26 PM

    And with blinding clarity Neal yet again misses the whole point of the post to which he is responding.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ronan Stokes
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    Oct 26th 2015, 12:32 PM

    Just another reason to delete your Facebook account.

    101
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute paul farrell
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    Oct 26th 2015, 1:44 PM

    Nose book best thing I ever done was delete my account , Facebook is full of knobheads…

    55
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dave
    Favourite Dave
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    Oct 26th 2015, 1:55 PM

    Self obsessive like-wh*ores

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kieran Dowling
    Favourite Kieran Dowling
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    Oct 26th 2015, 4:12 PM

    One less now.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute bobs_your_aunt
    Favourite bobs_your_aunt
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    Oct 26th 2015, 11:28 AM

    There’s an article on fb privacy on this at least one a week.

    48
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute alan nolan
    Favourite alan nolan
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    Oct 26th 2015, 12:26 PM

    in a few years time every search done by you will be attached to your name for all to see. even in incognito mode….stay safe porn fans

    28
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Bren MC
    Favourite Bren MC
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    Oct 26th 2015, 1:02 PM

    @alan google already does that alan.

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute BigBuck
    Favourite BigBuck
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    Oct 26th 2015, 2:15 PM

    Oh no

    8
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute alan nolan
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    Oct 26th 2015, 2:23 PM

    It’ll be public knowledge anyone will be able to just search your name and see your search history…

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Larry L'Oiseau
    Favourite Larry L'Oiseau
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    Oct 26th 2015, 8:27 PM

    Anyone who uses google to search for their porn deserves to be outed.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
    Favourite Daisy Chainsaw
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    Oct 26th 2015, 1:16 PM

    A stalker’s charter

    14
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