Posting a countdown to your wedding and honeymoon on social media sites may seem like a great idea, but it may be in your best interest not to. “Why?” you may ask. Well the answer is simple, exposing too much information can give somebody with mal intent insight into when you will or will not be home for an extended period of time.
According to Sara Yin, “Tech-savvy burglars are using social networks to check when people are away from their homes, and even scope out properties before robbing them”.
Here are some tips for how you can protect yourself while still sharing your excitement:
- Be cautious when accepting friend requests from people that you don’t know.
- These people may be looking for information about where you live or how they can hack your account(s).
- Be cautious about listing personal items like your birth date, address, job, contact information, etc.
- This information can tip others off about potential passwords that you have set for your accounts.
- Set security settings so that only you and your friends can see your information.
- Protect yourself from potential dangers as much as possible by putting your settings to “Friends Only”.
- Limit accessibility to photos that are posted of you.
- A visual image of places that you go or live are the last things you want a stranger to have.
- Do not make statuses about your schedule or location.
- Sure, you are excited for your wedding in 20 days located in Punta Cana. Disclosing that kind of information to the Internet gives screams that your home will be empty for a week or so.
Sources
While I was going through the class readings this week I immediately thought of your blog subject. This seems to be right in the sweet spot for the type of nefarious activity that criminals would take advantage of. The stats in the graphic that you posted are very telling and put in to perspective just how serious the problem is. I certainly had not thought the numbers were as bad as shown in the graphic. Nice post. Very sobering stuff.
ReplyDeleteHi George,
DeleteWhen I was going through the readings, at first I was stumped with how I would respond to the post. But then the U.S. Government Social Networking Training Module almost spelled it out!
It is very important to take precautions to set posts and photos to only be visible to friends. However, there is a gray area. Friends and relatives can post your image or information to their social media sites. Is there such thing as total security with access to the Internet? I don't think so.
What is scary is that if you Google somebody's name, information on that person pops up. While I am sure that you already knew that, did you know that things like wedding registries pop up? That might not seem so "frightening" until you realize that the wedding date is posted on wedding registries.
I guess that there is no such thing as total privacy these days. On a lighter note, when Santa is ready to start packing his sleigh, he'll have easy access to "wish lists" for all brides and grooms!
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty scary stuff. I can remember just the other day I checked in somewhere on Facebook. Anyone who pays attention could easily do something destructive if they wanted to. Social media security is especially important for newlyweds. Once they take off on their honeymoon, the happy couple's house or apartment is free game. Has the couple shared too much on Facebook or Twitter? Are some of their "friends" really friends? What do you think about a preventative post to scare off potential criminals? You could say something like "Thanks for house sitting next week while I'm away!" on a friend's wall.
-James
Hi James,
DeleteI definitely would not call out that somebody is house sitting while I am away from home. It may not be a good idea to let other people know that somebody is in an unfamiliar environment for a week or so. It is important to heavily limit the information that you post online.
This week's discussion has really given me new insight into the posts that I make regularly on social media sites. Whether tagging myself in at a restaurant, or on the Garden State Parkway heading down to Atlantic City, I should not be disclosing so much information to let people know that my house is empty.
The safest bet is to limit your account to close friends and family that you trust. Knowing this information, will you be posting a timeline to your wedding?
Hi Amanda,
DeleteI don't think I was clear. I meant, if you have already posted too much information about your whereabouts, are there ways to combat this oversharing of information?
I will not be posting a timeline after reading this! Although I'm sure most of my followers already know my date!
-James
True story! I decided to go through my contact list and keep people on the list who I still communicate with.
DeleteI am sure that there is a way to combat the over sharing of information. You can post things to throw people off course, or you can change your statuses to only be visible to specific groups of people.
Hi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI used to routinely discuss my whereabouts on social media, and then one day it just "clicked" how unsafe this practice is! Since then, I have chosen to wait until returning home from my destinations. Occasionally I will slip, if I am somewhere really exciting and can't wait to share it.
This has got to be one of the most obvious giveaways we offer on social media. You are right, we are advertising to criminals that they should come on over and break into our homes.
In fact, I rarely use Facebook check-in anymore and I haven't used Foursquare, because as far as I am concerned, whether I am on vacation, or out for the day in my own town, my home is still at risk when I make my whereabouts known.
I would be so interested to see statistics on home break-ins related to this if they are available. Have you come across any?
Hi Kristin,
ReplyDeleteYour question got me digging through Google for some more statistics. According to Wehner, "In a U.K.-based poll, a staggering 78% of vandals say they've used social networking sites to plan their moves ahead of time" (news.yahoo.com). That number is quite large and definitely alarming. I am certainly tightening down the hatchets to limit visibility more so than ever on social media sites. Maybe it would be a wise investment to install a home security system. I don't think my cat's meowing will frighten any intruders.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/stats-show-crooks-check-social-media-google-street-163209632.html
I posted the link for the article below.
Hi Amanda,
DeleteThanks for that information. I am not surprised, I would have guessed the statistics would be something like that.
I was married and had children before social networking became popular, and even then (1999 and 2003) I did not put my wedding announcement in the paper, nor did I put my baby announcement in the paper. I did not want people to know my wedding date just for this reason-I did not want to publicize when I'd be away. As for my baby, I just did not want any strange people knowing about my new baby either.
When I was in high school I was involved in a serious car accident. My 16 year old friend was driving and we were hit broadside by a fire truck heading to an emergency. It was publicized all over the news. Resulting from this publicity, I received a phone call from a very creepy man who said some pretty awful, inappropriate things. I'll never forget it. So, having experienced this first hand, I have never been keen about drawing attention to myself, or my family in the news for any reason.
My point is, social media has just extended what has always been a potential problem. Before this, news and phone books were facilitating privacy invasion.
Hi Kristin,
DeleteThat is creepy - dead on creepy. It makes sense why you would be sceptical to post anything.
It is so easy to get caught up in the moment and want to post a status update or let the world know that I am getting married in X amount of days, but this week's lesson really has me questioning whether or not that is the smartest thing to do.
Seeing your stats made me think of some numbers that Laura posted in her blog where she refers to a NY Times article that stated: "...scientists at Stanford University proved that they could identify more than 30 percent of the users of both Twitter, the microblogging service, and Flickr, an online photo-sharing service, even though the accounts had been stripped of identifying information like account names and e-mail addresses." (http://mslaurakristin.blogspot.com/2013/02/savvy-social-media-security.html#comment-form). The criminals just keep collecting pieces of the puzzle until they figure it out. Scary stuff.
DeleteThat's terrible, Kristin! It sounds like you experienced the threats of social media because of traditional media before these sites became popular. Your experiences shows us a lesson in how personal information being shared can lead to scary situations.
DeleteYes James, that is correct. I will remember that incident forever. Its not even as though it got that far-there was a creepy guy saying creepy things on the phone and my mother caught on from my expression and grabbed the phone from me. However, when something like that happens, you quickly realize how at risk we all are by making ourselves public in anyway, whether it be through traditional or digital forms of media. The way I see it, social media has just extended the network of criminals that can get to us, but this is not a new phenomenon, its just expanded.
DeleteThis is all rather sobering! Did you notice the statistic that 78% of burglars say they would be deterred by a cheap home burglar alarm? If you don't have an alarm, perhaps one safeguard is to post those signs that say you have one, or simply to invest in an inexpensive alarm without all of the cost of a monitoring service. The advice of making your home look lived in is also one that people often forget. A light timer is very cheap.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, did you notice that you just informed the world on your blog that you don't have an alarm? It's really hard to remember what and when to filter!
I failed to mention the ferocious german shepherd that patrols the house 24/7. Don't be fooled world, there is more than one of them!!!
DeleteIt is too easy to let communication flow and let out more information than necessary on public forums (obviously). I agree with you that purchasing an inexpensive alarm or monitoring service can do more good than harm.
Although I think the herd of mean dogs should do the trick. Actually, I rent a room in my house in FL to a guy who has two dogs. I have no worries about the house getting broken into!
DeleteHi Amanda,
ReplyDeleteI have a few friends getting married and all of them seem to have the “countdown” on their Facebook. It seems like sharing anything on social media sites puts people at risk, it almost makes me think if social media sites are even worth taking to so I can share information with friends, it seems like anything you want to share you have to do with so much caution that its more work than it’s worth. After the readings this week, I really think before I post, sometimes I don’t post. I thought about a conversation last week, since my mind is still wrapped around the readings, I was with a few friends and some people I didn’t know, friends of friends, when one girl happened to mention that her good friend and her husband were going away for a one year anniversary. That girl took to Facebook to ask opinions on places, well my friend asked our opinions and we gave them. Now every one of us in this group sitting having this conversation knew that this girl was going away, where she maybe going and for how long. There were also conversations and questions on Facebook going back and forth, when will you leave, how long, where are you flying out of.. all questions that now that I think about it should have been done privately.
Hi Christine,
ReplyDeleteIt is SO easy to let something slip on social media. The purpose of social media to open up lines of communication between people and businesses. However, there seems to be some sneaky people out there who are taking an innocent conversation to another level.
Have you ever heard the phrase, "The walls have ears"? Social media is generally the same concept. You have to be careful what is put online because there are thousands of people searching for it. On a lighter note, I hope your friends have a great, SAFE trip!
Hi Amanda-
ReplyDeleteAs someone at the beginning of the wedding planning process,I can say the excitement I feel makes me want to share it with everyone I know, online and off! But after reading your information, and this weeks readings, I may stop and think before posting a wedding countdown or other details. Because while I have very very private accounts, there are very very good hackers out there who may be watching me. I'll need to be mindful of this as we proceed with the wedding. For example, how many pictures will I want posted of shower gifts? For a theif, that may be like an auction!
I also find the conversations on your blog about checking-in places interesting. Again, it makes me think twice about when and where I post. But these check-in's show engagement with the brand, service, product, etc (the goal of marketers and PR managers) and sometimes have benefits. For example, some bridal shows want you to check-in and they offer free things like magazines, tote bags, etc. Yet by checking-in, you demonstrate that you are not at home. There seem to be so many pro's and con's to checking in places so individuals must evaluate each individual situation to determine whether or not to post; there is no one rule that fits. Would you agree?
Hi Kate,
DeleteYou should be excited to shout that you are getting married from the rooftops! It's such a great and exciting feeling. When Stephen & I bought our house, I was skeptical to put anything online. However, family members were posting and put up pictures. We can't live under rocks ;) Even though it is very important to be careful about what is disclosed to the public.
After this week's assignment, I don't want to tag my location on my statuses. To me, it is not worth the risk. From a business standpoint, they definitely encourage check-ins.
I have stopped posting information about the wedding after reading this week's readings. I also cleaned up my "friends" or "contacts" lists. I try to maintain an extremely private account but there is always a loop hole somewhere.
That's true-there is always a loophole.I am constantly cleaning up my accounts; if I see someone on my newsfeed that I cannot remember speaking to recently, they are removed. And I also found a way this week to have post's to my timeline by other people reviewed by me. Now when someone tags me in a post, it won't appear on my timeline unless I manually approve it. Even just knowing that I have this control makes me feel a bit more secure.
Delete