When the “Please Rob Me” site launched last month, I wouldn’t have guessed that under a month later, there would be an actual burglary resulting from a status update. Unfortunately for Keri McMullen, $10,000 of items were stolen thanks to a status update that tipped off burglars that she would be away from her house. Minutes after Keri left for a concert, one of her “friends” that she hadn’t spoken to in a long-time robbed her house.
The developers behind the site PleaseRobMe.com were intending to spread awareness about the dangers of posing status updates with your location. While participating in a panel at SXSW, one attendee told us about how he had to worry after his friend posted a status update about being out of the country and named the friends he was with. While nothing happened to the individual, it’s becoming increasingly clear that posting your whereabouts present a significant risk.
Some users of new services like Foursquare and Gowalla choose to post their updates to Twitter, letting anybody know where they’re at, during any moment of the day. Clearly that’s not the best idea which is why I’ve personally chosen only to accept friend requests from people I know relatively well. Do you choose to publish your location updates? Do you think it’s safe to make your location information public on Facebook, Twitter, and other social services?
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For Facebook, I rarely post when I go out and if I do, it simply says "Out". For Twitter, I never do because my account is public. Even though I only let people I know follow me, I keep it public for the rest of Twitter to hear my opinions and thoughts on things.
Comment by George Tinari — March 25, 2010 @ 3:19 pm
This has been a hot topic of conversation at SXSW and also at the recent Social Media Smackdown at Portland Ad Federation (@carribugbee has a pretty harrowing story that served as a warning).
In part, this reinforces the fact that we should all take a moment to defriend people that aren't in our lives. Quality > quantity = WIN for everyone.
http://www.jamiebeckland.com
Comment by Jamie Beckland — March 25, 2010 @ 3:39 pm
I update my status AFTER the event.
"that band was awesome!"
"loved that movie".
It prevent.
Comment by Pierre-Luc — March 25, 2010 @ 6:20 pm
I'm not surprised by this at all. I'm just surprised that this is the first incident we've heard about. I'm sure it's probably happened on many other occasions. People just haven't put two and two together or are too embarrassed to admit that they told robbers they'd be out.
Hey, I've done it myself! I'm "lucky" I was just cyber-stalked by some creeps and not actually robbed, but it could've happened.
People who live outside the social media echo-chamber (i.e., most of the world) find it astounding that any of us would be so foolish as to announce when we're not home.
@CarriBugbee
Comment by Carri Bugbee — March 25, 2010 @ 9:52 pm
What makes anyone think that one lives alone?
I may be at the movies, and tweeting away about it, but good luck getting past the lab/shephard mix and the grumpy Canadian both inevitably propped up on the couch.
Comment by nr — March 25, 2010 @ 10:25 pm
I advocate not using Four Square or Gowalla or any other geo location tool for that reason. It provides people you may not know well all kinds of opportunities to rob or otherwise harm you. And foursquare won't compensate you if something happens…except with a virtual award.
Comment by Taylor Ellwood — March 25, 2010 @ 11:18 pm
Doesn't matter to me. No one suspicious knows my address. Think I'm wrong? I'm great at finding addresses in all sorts of ways; I've never been able to find my own, anywhere. Even Zabasearch has it COMPLETELY wrong (which I can't figure out why.) Even so, I rarely announce when I'm gone; and of my 250 contacts, none would care (yes, I really do know and trust them ALL.) This is not as much a warning about letting others know you're out…it's more a warning of know who your friends are!
And as someone else pointed out, who assumes that one's residence is completely all clear because ONE Facebook user is gone? I, for one, am surrounded by watchful, intelligent neighbors. And I know plenty of people who have security systems/alarms. Of course, I'm one of those annoying "cryptic" posters (it made the list of the most annoying Facebook users, woo hoo!) Even my boyfriend can't figure out my statuses most of the time without directly asking. Good luck figuring out when to rob me…it may just be entrapment on MY part, lol!
Comment by Ally — March 26, 2010 @ 5:38 am
This is one of the few benefits of having room mates. I didn't hesitate to post status updates last week while vacationing in San Francisco, as I have two room mates – one that works day and one that works at night. Pretty much, someone is always home!
Comment by warplayer — March 26, 2010 @ 9:20 am
Facebook and Twitter and Gowalla and 4square status updates aren't that concerning to me. YOU have the ability to not make your status update public. What is really troubling to me is that there are sites out there such as http://www.dirtyphonebook.com that are publicly exposing personal information about you and you have NO WAY of ever getting that removed. Now that's a really big issue to me.
@Warplayer – I agree that having roomates is helpful but not everybody has one.
Comment by Greg — March 26, 2010 @ 3:43 pm
This is what can happend if you add a ton on fb,
I have nearly 300 friends but I know them all.
What is the reason that many peopl. add unknown to their fb friends? Stupid lonley and not realistic people do that
Comment by sylvia — March 26, 2010 @ 6:04 pm
Privacy settings are there to prevent others from seeing our address na
Comment by Carl — March 26, 2010 @ 11:26 pm
Facebook: The End of Privacy: http://bagtheweb.com/b/lxYGFU
Message to add sites that document the erosion of privacy on Facebook. #privacy
Comment by GOODinPDX — March 27, 2010 @ 7:36 am
I like to play the games, but I don't Twitter. Nor do I post when I am away. It is far too easy to post personal info without realizing you are in world eyes. I have heard stories about Facebook being a dangerous site to be on.
Perhaps the temptation to be "a friend" to many is the culprit. Thank you Facebook for protecting your clients.
Comment by Mary Hughes — March 27, 2010 @ 5:57 pm
People have been going to work everyday for centuries and leaving their houses/apartments empty for hours. If someone is looking to rob places of residence they don't need some social media app to do it.
Comment by christopher — March 27, 2010 @ 8:05 pm
The Address and Phone Number details on my account are locked down so only those in my 'Family' security group (I have security groups and organisational groups following a previous post on here) can find those details. But I do also tend to talk about things after the event, or am vague about times etc.
Comment by Steven Jones — March 29, 2010 @ 6:09 am
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Comment by Loh Micheal — June 20, 2010 @ 1:54 pm
loh thiam suong ndlh18@gmail.com
Comment by Loh Micheal — June 20, 2010 @ 1:57 pm