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Social media developments have been in the news lately: Facebook Messages stretches the social inbox, Yahoo launches “Local Offers,” and Twitter gets more granular with “Trends,” to name a few. Also in the news are stories covering the darker side of social media, and the risks associated with using these compelling tools without considering your privacy – or even your safety. I’ve posted on the topic of what not to share before (here’s the link), but the word has been slow getting out – and there’s a recent insurance study to reinforce the words of warning:
Over a third of social network users are putting themselves at greater risk of burglary, according to an insurance firm. Research by Co-operative Insurance indicated that 36% of respondents said they used social sites to post updates on their whereabouts, and 35% announced holiday plans: both are useful gobbets of information to allow potential burglars to strike when they’re away.
Wireless Home Alarms – Social Media Threats Revisited

By:
Peter M. Rogers
|November 18, 2010
- 21% of those questioned admitted that they didn’t know all of their friends, as some of them were friends of friends, and possibly dodgy characters.
- More reports surface of burglaries where the criminals used Facebook to plan their raids. Indeed, Confused.com warned at the time that insurance companies may eventually start pricing the fact that a customer is active on a social networking site into their policy cost.
- The CIS survey also unearthed the extent of other security risks people are prepared to take on the likes of Facebook: 42% have happily shared their date of birth, and 14% have revealed their address.
- 85 % of parents say they are more concerned about online privacy than they were five years ago.
- 69 % of parents believe online privacy is a shared responsibility of individuals and online companies.
- 91 % of parents think search engines and social networking sites should get their permission before sharing a kid's physical location with other companies.