With all of the social networking tools available today, it is easy to get wrapped up in the fun of it all and forget about the basic rules of life. One of the biggies – Don’t announce to the world that you are not home. Unfortunately, people are happily volunteering this information (along with plenty of other personal tidbits) to the entire world without understanding the potential dangers of doing so. Social media sites/tools are making it increasingly easier for thieves to track your moves and know when you are not home. A great new site PleaseRobMe.com pokes a bit of fun at the phenomenon and aims to educate the masses by showing what NOT to do.
“Listing all those empty homes out there” is the tagline for PleaseRobMe.com and categories like “Recent Empty Homes” are used to demonstrate the dangers of location-aware services. Location-aware services is a broad term that basically means any software, device or site that allows you to share your current geographical location with others. There are a lot of advantages to sharing your location (mostly social) but users should understand the dangers associated with broadcasting your whereabouts. Mainly, telling people you are at point X means you are not at home, thus making your home a target for thieves.
Why Would Anyone Broadcast Their Location?
It might be hard for some people to understand why anyone would do this, but the world has embraced location-aware technologies and we find new uses for it every day. Here are a few examples of sites and services that make location-aware fun and useful:
- Twitter – There are some services that add a users location to every tweet they send out. Some users simply include their location as part of their standard message.
BENEFIT: You might have friends in the same area that want to meet up for a meal or a drink. While on vacation or on a business trip in a strange city you might get some recommendations from others on where to go and what to do.
- Foursquare - A separate application for almost any smartphone, this service allows users to “check in” when they arrive at a cafe, bar, restaurant, park, etc. They have even made a game out of your destinations where you can earn badges for “discovering new places or taveling to far away places.”
BENEFIT: Find out what your friends are up to, what places everyone is frequenting and get reviews on just about anything before you try it.
- Latitude – This smartphone app tracks your location and shares it on a map for friends and family to see.
BENEFIT: Keep track of family. You can even use the service to make sure your kids aren’t wandering off too far. And, like the other services, you can meet up with friends who happen to be in the same area.
- Facebook/Buzz – Although Facebook and Google Buzz aren’t real-time location trackers, they do provide users with a way to broadcast their plans. You can tell your friends where you are about to go on vacation or where your date is taking you for dinner. Mobile apps make it possible to update both of these services as often as you would like.
BENEFIT: Sharing is fun and suggestions from friends and family are where we find out about the best restaurants and places to visit.
What People Are Doing Wrong
The services listed above can be just as dangerous as they are helpful. People who aren’t aware of these cyber-stalkers (those looking for your location information) don’t know they are setting themselves up for trouble. We’ve mentioned the dangers in previous articles, like Who Sees Your Social Media Credit Score and Why, but only grazed the surface of the issue.
- Twitter – Most people think that only their followers read their tweets, but that is not the case. A quick search at search.twitter.com, with the proper keywords, can provide criminals with just enough information to get started.
Who is "going on vacation tomorrow?"
- Foursquare – Twitter posts by Foursquare users contain “4sq.com” links and are easily tracked. Letting everyone know you “checked in” at location X means you are not at home and this is exactly what PleaseRobMe.com is exposing (in order to educate users).
Recent Empty Homes on PleaseRobMe.com
- Latitude - A “friend” or someone with a little computer know-how could potentially use latitude to track you. Not much need for explanation here.
Google Latitude Shows Right Where You Are
- Facebook/Buzz – Do you really look at who you approve as a friend on Facebook or Buzz? Is your information really “private” or are there ways around that. Do you have “friends” that you don’t know so well? Maybe posting your vacation plans is not the best move.
Posting a comment or a picture from your smartphone?
PleaseRobMe.com is not out to harm anyone, but is helping to raise awareness. Hopefully you will change your habits just enough to prevent potential dangers. You should also take the time to Google your user names and id’s. Make sure that someone can’t research your Twitter user name to find your home address or phone number. That simple link could be enough to bring a thief closer to your valuables.
Tags: Buzz, Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Home, Latitude, location-aware, PleaseRobMe.com, Status, Thieves, Twitter
