Saarbruecken, Germany - The last week before going away on holiday is the ideal time to review your social network profile settings, experts say, because it might make you think twice about what you are revealing.
“If a person is very active on multiple social network providers such as Facebook, Instagram or Flickr, it is possible that they are providing too much information and opening themselves to a potential criminal act,” explains Tobias Arns, social media expert with the IT association Bitkom in Germany.
For example, if a person marks their home on Foursquare and then posts selfies of themselves on holiday, potential burglars only need to put two and two together.
“Before going on holiday, it is a good idea just to enter your name in a search engine,” recommends Arns. “Think seriously about whether your private address even needs to be available on the internet.”
German privacy watchdogs say that if you live alone, it is advisable to deactivate location sharing from your web presence, as it lets criminals know when your home is unoccupied. - Sapa-dpa