When final did you share your exact location on social media?
If Netflix’s creepy collection You taught us something, ‘It is better to be safe than sorry’.
Especially when you are on-line.
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HOW MUCH DO YOU SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
How safe are you really on social media? And what personal information are you currently dishing out for anyone to see?
According to Glamour UK, sharing selfies inside or exterior your house, on the workplace, and even at your vacation vacation spot can simply give hackers a direct map of your present location.
And sure, identical to within the collection ‘You‘, it actually could be that simple to monitor somebody by way of their social media posts.
In a current TikTookay publish, creator @Shay.nanigans87 shared simply how simple it’s to ‘find’ somebody on-line, based mostly on their social media profiles. Since the publish, 1000’s of followers have requested her to audit their social profiles.
The TikTokker is pleased to oblige, however the search often ends in her discovering both an image of the person’s house or office.
Rodnae Productions | Pexels.
With social media taking part in such a every day half in our lives, it may be simple to overlook not to overshare. Especially when it comes to the protection of your household.
“Joe Goldberg (from the series ‘You’) may be a fictional character, but some of his actions are not far from the reality of cyberstalking and real-life stalking,” Alina Bizga, safety analyst at cyber safety software program supplier Bitdefender instructed Glamour UK.
“It’s not that hard to believe that someone can easily become the target of a malicious individual. Stalking via social media is quite easy. You can easily follow the social media rabbit hole into someone else life, tracking their whereabouts, their romantic status, likes and dislikes, and even find out information on their friends and family,” she added.
PROTECT YOURSELF ONLINE
To assist maintain you secure on social media, Glamour UK roped within the assist of cyber safety specialists.
Here’s what the specialists say
SHOULD I USE MY FULL NAME ON SOCIAL MEDIA?
Sharing your full identify and surname on social media may sound like a fairly customary factor to do, however is it secure? “You can’t go full incognito online,” Bizga instructed Glamour UK. “Social media works by linking people together, so you’d probably want to use your real name to get in touch with friends, family members and potentially make connections to help your career. Using your real name online isn’t that unsafe. We give our real names every day, whether it’s conducting business, heading to the doctor, meeting new people, or in job interviews,” she added.
CAN SOMEONE REALLY TRACK MY LOCATION VIA SOCIAL MEDIA?
“Most people aren’t aware of how many ways they can be tracked, purely from the data they’ve provided online. These include geographical locations; links to Companies House data (if you are a director of a business); using 192.com; finding your location using meta-tags (on photos for example); news articles or posts that feature your name; the electoral role and, sinisterly, reverse image search – which takes pictures you have been featured in and identifies the location,” says Dan Card, a cyber safety professional at BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
HOW DO I STAY SAFE?
“There are ways to remain relatively anonymous while still getting the benefits of social media. But the public needs to develop a level of data literacy, and this means understanding what’s happening with your personal data in order to keep safe. It’s a real source of frustration to me how open people are with their data on social media without realising the implications of it,” explains information privateness professional Caroline Carruthers, CEO of Carruthers and Jackson.
“For instance, what is that this obsession with tagging your self at an airport when you’re flying away on vacation? You’ve primarily simply instructed a bunch of potential burglars that you’re away for a weekend. If you want to share your pretty vacation photos, do it when you’re house and speak about it within the PAST tense!
“Or, taking a picture of a brand new car outside your house. You might also get your door number in it, and just like that… you’ve told someone where you live, where a brand new car is parked, what model it is, etc,” she provides.
WHAT ABOUT LINKEDIN?
“LinkedIn is generally safer because users delineate between personal and corporate information,” says Carruthers. “For example, the location listed is usually the company’s HQ, which isn’t too personal and doesn’t give people access to your personal working hours, what you’re working on etc. However, there is still a risk as, particularly if it’s a small company, it shows people where you are likely to be working during the day. As with every platform, women can also be approached and sent inappropriate messages, etc. So, it’s still important to have some practices in place, such as keeping your profile private only accepting people that you know as a connection.”
TIPS TO STAY SAFE ONLINE, ACCORDING TO BIZGA:
- Always use strong and unique passwords when you log in or set up a new account
- Enable two-factor or multi-factor authentication , whenever possible
- Set up a new email address for your social media account
- Set strict privacy settings for your accounts
- Avoid tagging and posting specific locations
- Cleanup your friend/connections list frequently
- Use a security solution on your devices
- Always report suspicious, fraudulent or stalking behaviour to the police and platform
- Think twice before you post your photos, especially ones that may reveal your home address, workplace or other identifiable information, and avoid sharing any kids’ photos online
- Post any travel plans, videos or photos after you have returned from your holiday
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