Hide your birthday and phone number

Step by step

1. Click the Start button! Look at the bottom of this practice computer: the dark strip there is its taskbar. In the middle of it, click the Start button (four blue squares). The main menu opens just above it. If you see two taskbars, use the one inside this page.
2. Click "Browser". In the menu that opened, click the "Browser" tile (a square with a small picture and its name under it): the app opens in its own window.
3. Go to . Click in the address bar at the top, type and press Enter. It is a practice social network: made-up people, nothing is really shared.
4. Open "My profile". At the top of the page, click "My profile". The box "What a stranger sees on your profile" shows your birthday and phone number: anyone can read them.
5. Click "Edit my details". Click the light purple "Edit my details" button.
6. Hide your birthday. Open the "Who can see your birthday" list and choose "Only me". Your birthday and your name are what a thief needs to pretend to be you.
7. Hide your phone number. Open the "Who can see your phone number" list and choose "Only me".
8. Click "Save my details". Click the "Save my details" button at the bottom of the form. The page confirms that your choices are saved.
9. Read what strangers see now. Your profile shows 🔒 "Only me" next to both details, and the box says only your name and town are public. Click "Home" to finish.
10. Close this window. You are done with this window, so close it: click the ✕ button at the top right corner of the "Browser" window (on its title bar, the strip at the top). The window disappears.

These steps are written for SafePC, a pretend Windows-style computer in your web browser. On your own computer, the buttons and menus may look a little different, but the idea is the same.

More lessons in Social media, safely

• Sign in and look around
• Post a photo to "Family only"
• Check your privacy settings
• Turn down a friend request from a stranger
• Report a fake profile and block it