I was reading an article today where a guy tweeted his vacation plans and location, and then was promptly robbed while he was away. There are still the question as to whether it was random or not, but it should go out as a general message to those who blog, tweet, livejournal or other things.
Update (9/13/2010): Apparently quite a few people are doing this, check out this article where a gang of thugs was using Facebook updates to see when people were out of their homes, apparently stealing upwards of 100-200 thousand dollars worth of stuff before they were caught. Really, is it that hard to get?
While I’m certainly one to blog, I’m certainly not one to provide a lot of personal details in those blogs. I pay attention to blocking or cropping or blurring out my address marker, my license plates, and other specific location identifying information from this blog. It’s not that I don’t enjoy my visitors or like them sharing my experiences with them, it’s that I don’t want to be robbed like this guy. In all likelihood, if I included any personal information with a note saying I was going on vacation, I would have all the webcams fired up on super double remote video logging duty and be hanging out in the house with a 2×4 spiked with nails just for more exciting blog content!
Have fun, share your life experiences but always be safe. What you share is open to the world, the world doesn’t need ultra personal information!
Even if you don’t share your details, it’s always very important to secure your home and belongings. Double check your doors and windows at night, re-consider leaving a fan running in the window, or perhaps your air conditioner in the window could be bolted in a little tighter, or you could put a nail or special rail lock on your windows to protect yourself. A small weekend investment in time and money can save you the heartbreak of a home break in. Internet web cameras are also cheap and you can put several of them out in and outside of your home and set them to record to a remote server.
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