Video for Canadians: How to stay safe on social media

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[The following text on screen appears against a bright blue background: ]

• Social media can be fun, right?

[An animated character smiles at their smart phone as a balloon flies out of frame. The character disappears and four balloons appear on screen, inside each is an image: a breaking news icon, a cupcake, a text bubble with a heart and a selfie of a cat. The following text appears:]

• But communicating online can also put you at risk.

[The following text on screen appears against a green background:]

• Socializing with privacy

[Underneath the text is a yellow text box with the following text:]

• How to stay safe on social media

[The view returns to the animated character, now wearing glasses and sitting at a laptop, eyeballs pivoting back and forth (reading), a privacy policy reflected in the spectacles. The following text appears:]

• Tip #1Read and understand privacy policies

[The camera zooms in on the glasses the character is wearing. The glasses take up the full screen. Inside the glasses, the word Accept appears twice. The image returns to the character at the laptop, who pauses, one finger on chin, head lifted as a thought bubble appears overhead with a question mark. The following text appears:]

• Make an informed decision

[The character shakes their head “no” and folds their arms. The following text appears:]

• Don’t like it? Don’t sign up

[The view zooms into the laptop, going into the virtual world, leaving the character behind. The background colour changes to yellow and a collection of letters and symbols are shuffling around the screen. The following text appears:]

• Tip #2 Choose your passwords carefully

[The numbers and symbols continue to move around the screen while six blue text boxes appear in the foreground with the following text in each box: ]

• Strong, Easy to remember, Not easy to guess, Unique to each account and device, Longer is better, Multi-factor authentication

[The blue text boxes disappear and the letters and symbols on screen change places to form a password that reads: CatsShouldRuleTheWorld! The password disappears and the following text appears on screen along the character’s social media profile page: ]

• Tip #3 Understand and manage your privacy settings

[A giant cursor scrolls down the social media page to a highlighted section that is a list of privacy settings. As the cursor clicks on a box, that text is highlighted. The following text is seen on screen:]

• Adjust your settings
• Limit sharing
• Review and update regularly
• Don’t share sensitive information
• Protect your identity

[The view comes back to the character with a thought bubble, on a green background. The following text appears on screen: ]

• Tip #4 Think long term

[The image zooms in on the thought bubble. A second bubble appears and two images appear within each bubble: a video of the character eating a pickle and a photo of the character dressed in a pickle costume. The following text appears on screen: ]

• Don’t post it if you wouldn’t want everyone to see it

[The two images zoom off screen to a closeup image of the character dressed up in the pickle costume, with another character eating a pickle. The word Tag pops up near their faces, followed by the word Share as well as the following text: ]

• Tip #5 Be considerate and get consent before you post about others

[A hand holds a tablet with a series of comments from a social media post. The other hand taps the delete button on each post and they disappear. The following text appears on screen: ]

• Tip #6 Regularly review your social media content

[The character is back on screen, slightly blurred. Masked faces float around her. The following text appears on screen: ]

• Tip #7 Avoid fraud and theft. Limit identifying details

[The character comes into focus, holding a cell phone and taking a selfie in front of the Eiffel Tower. The following text appears on screen:]

• Don’t share your location

[Background colour changes from green to yellow and the character is seated in front of a laptop. The words: Identity Theft, Phishing and Fraud float in the background. The following text appears on screen:]

• Tip #8 Watch out for scams

[Camera zooms in closer to the character on the laptop as two text bubbles emerge from the computer. One message is from Getrichquickcashca. There are money icons and a link to the URL a and in the other text bubble a message from CatsLovePickles who writes Nothing phishy here, just need your address. The camera zooms into the two text bubbles, the character sticks a pin into each of the bubbles and each burst as the word Scam appears. The following text appears on screen: ]

• Don’t click on suspicious messages or links

[A laptop appears with the character’s social media profile page. There is a big Log Off button. The following text appears on screen:]

• Tip #9 Log off and clear your history on shared devices or computers

[The view zooms in on the laptop and a cursor clicks on the Log Off button, and then on the drop down menu that reads, Delete Browsing History.]

[The background colour changes to blue. The character reaches towards three floating icons. On each icon is a word: Deactivate, Close and Delete. The following text appears on screen: ]

• Tip #10 Deactivate or close unused accounts and delete data

[The view zooms to the three floating icons. As the character taps the icon, the icon and word both disappear. The character smiles while holding a cell phone as the closing text appears on screen: ]

• Learn more about how you can stay safe on social media

[The Office of the Privacy Commission of Canada logo and URL priv.gc.ca/socialmedia]