Ultimately, protecting your information in social networking is a matter of common sense; if you wouldn’t tell something to a stranger in the street, don’t make it publicly visible online. If you find that something you’re not comfortable sharing is showing up in your game, check your Facebook privacy settings and use these “common sense” guidelines to set up the most secure profile possible:

1. Don’t use your full birth date on Facebook. Identity thieves can get more information about you with it and event gain access to your bank accounts.

2. If a new app looks like a spam or scam app, don’t click on it. Most apps usually try to hook you with something like “You won’t believe this!” or “You have to see it to believe it!”

3. If a friend sends you a request to download an app like that, privately contact that friend and find out if they really did send you that request. It could be a spambot sending out messages and your friend needs to know about it so they can secure their account.

4. Don’t download apps from outside the U.S. because they could collect, lose, abuse, or sell it and there’d be nothing you could do. If the app maker is in the U.S., it’s probably safer, and at least you have legal options (like that class action Zynga lawsuit) if something goes wrong.

5. Always read games’ privacy policies carefully. Find out what control they have over your data and where it goes.

6. Know how much private data is out there about you. Google-stalk yourself or get someone like PrivacyDefender to do it for you.

7. Use your privacy settings. If you lose control of your Facebook ID, you’re exposing information about who you are, where you live, what you like, who your friends are, and what you do for a living.