Controlling your X privacy settings

Accessing the Settings and privacy menu

The Settings and privacy menu can be accessed from any screen on the X app, via the profile icon. The icon is always visible in the top-left corner of the screen, and looks like your profile picture, or a circle if you have no profile picture.

Tap the profile icon to access the menu.

The X app menu

The main menu shows your name, your X user name, and some options. At the bottom of these options, you can see Settings & Support. Tap this to open the menu.

Privacy and safety

Once the menu opens, you’ll see an option called Settings and privacy.

Tap this, and a Settings screen will appear where you can control many of the features on X that can help to protect your personal information.

Protect your Posts

About half-way down the Settings screen, tap Privacy and safety. At the top of the screen, tap Audience and tagging to manage what you allow other people on X to see.

The Protect your Posts option appears at the top of the screen, with a switch that is set to Off. Tapping the switch so that it turns On helps ensure that your posts are broadcast only to X users who follow you.

Protect your Posts (cont'd)

With Protect your Posts switched on, you can also approve or deny each new user who wants to follow you, so you can control who can see your details and the content that you post on X.

Anything you post, however, can be reposted, quoted and shared by followers, so your posts can still potentially be viewed by anyone.

Photo tagging

The Photo tagging option also appears on the Audience and tagging page. Tap it now to explore the different settings you can apply to user who tag you in their content.

Tagging is the name given when another user mentions you in the content that they post. If someone tags you, you will see the @ symbol followed by your X username. For example, @BeConnected.

Photo tagging (cont'd)

You can set the Photo tagging option so that:

• Anyone can tag you in their content on X
• Only people you follow can tag you in their content
• Photo tagging is turned Off altogether.

Tap anywhere outside the Photo tagging menu to make it disappear. When you are ready, tap the Back arrow at the top of the Privacy and safety screen to go back to the Settings screen.

Muting and blocking accounts

Since X is an open social media platform, you may come across content that offends you. You may also come across recommended content that doesn’t interest you. If this happens, you can Block or Mute a user.

Muting and blocking accounts (cont'd)

When you Mute another X user, you will no longer see their content.

When you Block another X user, you will no longer see the content they post and they won’t be able to view your profile or content.

If you decide to mute or block another user, they won’t be notified that you have done so.

How X users find you

The Discoverability and contacts option in the Privacy and safety menu allows you to determine how other X users find you on X.

Tap Discoverability and contacts to open a new screen. You'll see two options that are set to On by default. The first option is:

• Let others find you by your email address. Users can find your account by searching for your email address. For example, if a friend joins X, they’ll be able to find your X account via your email address.

How X users find you (cont'd)

The second option for allowing others to find you is:

• Let others find you using your phone number. Users can find you on X by searching for your phone number.

If you don't want other X users to find your account by these methods, tap the switch or checkbox next to each option so that it changes colour and turns off.

Tap the Back arrow to return to the Privacy and safety menu.

Data sharing and personalisation

If you scroll down the Privacy and safety menu, you’ll see a section titled Data sharing and personalisation. This has options you can explore to limit how much data X can collection about you, and who X can share that data with.

Tap each option in the Data sharing and personalisation section of the Privacy and safety menu to see more information about it.

Each of these options includes one or more switches you can turn off to prevent X from using your data.

Location information

It’s worth paying special attention to Location information, in the Data sharing and personalisation section.

Tap on Location information and you will see two options:

• Personalise based on places you’ve been
• Personalise based on precise location.

X can use your whereabouts to target you with advertising, so it’s a good to turn them both off. Tap the switch next to each one so it turns grey.

eSafety Tip

To protect your privacy, it is recommended that you turn each of the Data sharing and personalisation options off by tapping the switch or checkbox next to each so that it changes colour and turns off.

Getting help on X

The X Help Center can be accessed by tapping the main menu in the top-left corner of your screen. It has information on:

• using X
• managing your X account
• safety and security
• rules and policies of using X.

There are also helpful videos, pro tips, and articles on how you get the most from using X.

If you have trouble accessing the Help Center from the app on your mobile device, you can access it by typing https://help.twitter.com/en into your browser.

Well done!

You've completed the Controlling your X privacy settings activity. You should now know how you can protect yourself and your personal information while using X. Importantly, you’ve also learned how to block and mute offensive or irrelevant content.

Next up, you can learn how to use X in the Posting on X activity.