The use of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate and chat about our lives and daily activities is now firmly embedded into our culture.
The problem is that this has also meant that opportunistic burglars have been give vital access to a person’s movements, meaning they are vulnerable to be a victim of a robbery while they are out.
Not just celebrities at risk
There are certainly examples out there of rich and famous celebrities, who are perhaps hungry for as much publicity and media exposure as possible, leaving themselves vulnerable to the risk of being burgled or even attacked.
Tweeting that you are out with friends or even worse, boasting about what a great time you are having away on vacation is potentially an open invitation to an individual who is gathering information with a view to commit a crime.
Too much information
A survey carried out by the home security company ADT who use homesecurity911.com/diy-home-security.htmlin the U.S as an authorized dealer, revealed a staggering amount of personal information tweeted by celebrities about their movements. Some examples include the Singer Jessie J tweeting "Off the plane straight to production rehearsals for 4 hours." And in case you were in any doubt that she was not at home she also posted a message saying "I am not going to be in Birmingham for long. We are getting a jet from the airport, and we are already an hour late."
Whilst we may not all lead celebrity lifestyles jetting around the world, the same principles apply, in that giving too much personal information out online can leave you vulnerable to being burgled.
Protect your personal information
Your personal information is a valuable commodity and you should take every precaution to ensure that your unique data is notcompromised in any way. Identity theft is one criminal aspect that you always have to be wary of but also your date of birth or highly personal details could potentially be used by a criminal to gain access to your property and can even help them to successfully guess passwords based on your favorite likes and interests that many of us use in order to create a more easily memorable password.
Turn off your location
A number of apps that we use to help us find information and also to socialize with have a built in tracking system that could be a hindrance as much as a help to you. The idea behind allowing your smartphone or other mobile device to track your location is so that the app that you are using can provide useful data for you such as where the nearest gas station or restaurant is. The downside to this is that whilst using social networking sites you could be giving away your location simply by having your device turned on, even if you don’t give out personal information when you tweet or post a message.
We are not about to reverse the trend in socializing online anytime soon, so just be careful who you give the information to and remember the potential consequences if the details get in the wrong hands.
Jane MacCarthy is a home security expert. She frequently writes about safety tips on family blogs.