How to stay safe and still enjoy Foursquare

I saw yet another blog on the dangers of Foursquare today.  This one was about how criminals can use foursquare and twitter info to find out if you’re not home and then come and rob you.  I don’t mind the what if articles so much.  What I don’t like is that most of them tell the reader what might go bad, but never give a way to prevent it.

First, I was a women’s self defense instructor during my police years.  I never told women to hide inside and therefore stay safe.  I did teach how to do things like: park in well lit areas, if they like to run after dark then run in lit and populated areas, and so on.  I taught to live smart, but still live life.

Now to Foursquare.  I must admit I like to share with my friends the places I like to go.  I also like to see some of the restaurants they go to.  I also find new friends on the site.  So how to stay safe.

1. If you’re worried someone might find your info on twitter and use it to find your empty house, don’t post your foursquare activity on twitter.  Simple.

2. Instead of checking in on Foursquare when you get to the place, do it when you’re leaving or once you get home.

3. Don’t list your home address on twitter.  Most people don’t list their address on their twitter profile, but this was one of the ways the article I read mentioned would lead to a break in.

4. Don’t list your home address on your website.  Again, most people don’t, but if I don’t mention this then someone will bring it up as a potential breach in security. Your address can be found if someone really want’s to find it.  This can done whether you use any social media sites or not.

5. Before you become too afraid of social media tools, think thru the process a criminal would have to go through and how quickly they would have to do it in order to find out you’re not home, then locate your address, then go to your address, then break in and be gone before you or a neighbor caught them.

Here’s the bottom line:  in my experience, criminals are not that smart.  Most of the criminals who are smart would  most likely be doing cyber crime and not break ins.  It takes a significant amount of home work to be able to use the info on foursquare or twitter to find a house to break into.  But I guess it is feasible.  So just think about what you’re doing,  be safe and still have fun.