No, your twitter searches are not public. While Twitter saves and collects your search data by default for its algorithms, no Twitter user has access to what you search for. Someone can see your search data only if they have access to your Twitter credentials or the device on which has your account logged into.
What can people see?
If your twitter account is public, people are able to see your tweets, retweets, comments, and replies to comments. Apart from that if you create lists that are public, people can also see that. They’ll be able to see your followers as well as the people you follow. Anyone on Twitter can send you a message and start a conversation.
If you have a private account, you’ll have the option to approve or disprove a follower. Only approved followers will be able to see your tweets and retweets. This works best if you want to keep your activity on Twitter among a small set of people.
Why does Twitter store your search data?
First of all, Twitter uses your search queries to understand your content preferences so that they can show you what’s relevant to you and keep you longer on the channel. Secondly, they use your searches to show you personalized advertisements. When Twitter shows you ads that align with your preferences, the click through rate goes up. Remember, advertisements are the main source of Twitter’s revenue.
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How can you delete your Twitter search data?
It is pretty simple, actually. Just follow these steps
- Go to your Twitter profile
- Tap on the search tab
- Tap on the trash icon adjacent to the query you want to delete
- Tap on Delete saved data
- Confirm the deletion
Please note that deleting your search data doesn’t stop Twitter from using your date to suggest content or showing ads. You can stop that too if you wish. We’ll go into that presently.
How to stop Twitter from storing your search data?
Please note that you cannot stop seeing ads completely on Twitter by turning off search data storage. It will only mean that the ads you see are not aligned with your preferences based on your search queries. Now, let’s look at the steps to follow to disable search data usage for personalized content and ads.
- Open your Twitter account
- Go to Personalization page
- Turn the toggle switch for Personalization Data off
- Tap on Save changes
After this your search queries won’t be used to personalize your content suggestions and advertisements.
How to make your Twitter account Private
Making your Twitter account private is easy. Follow the steps.
- Tap on your profile photo
- Select Settings and privacy from the dropdown menu
- Tap on Privacy and safety
- Find the Protect Your Tweets option under Audience and tagging
- Toggle the switch on
- Enter your password when asked for
- Tap save changes at the bottom of the page.
This will make your tweets visible only to approved followers. You can control who follows you and who can see your Tweets. It is a good step to protect your information from potential stalkers and avoid unsolicited attention to your tweets.
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Is your Twitter account safe?
While you can protect your tweets by turning on the private mode, it doesn’t guarantee the safety of your Twitter account. Twitter accounts have been hacked before and they’ll be hacked in the future. These are steps you can take to prevent your Twitter account from being hacked. In fact, these tips apply to virtually any account that is protected by a password.
- Be careful not to enter your credentials into untrusted input fields. Hackers often show you pages asking for Twitter credentials to view a piece of content on Twitter. Avoid filling in your credentials anywhere other than the legitimate Twitter login portal.
- Reset your password frequently. Passwords are often stolen in data breaches and they are added to a pool of stolen credentials. These credentials are then randomly tried to log into accounts. This works only because we are too reluctant to reset passwords and use the same passwords for multiple places.
- Use alphanumeric passwords that are at least 12 characters long. The longer your password, the harder it is to crack in a brute force attack. Be sure not to use generic passwords like 1234, or the name of your pet.
- Beware of phishing emails and social engineering attacks that try to coax you into sharing your credentials by creating pseudo-legitimate websites and user-input fields.
Just to be safe, keep the amount of personal information you share on your Twitter profile to the minimum. Do not enter compromising information on any social media platform for that matter. The less you put on the internet, the better off you are.
