Home Security and Social Networks

by Michelle
(Ohio)

When I talk about home security, I'm usually dealing with how to protect your home from intruders and what to do in case of a break-in. But there is one area that people, including myself, neglect to mention. That is home security and the internet.



Criminals are getting more sophisticated when it comes to technology. One way criminals can locate easy targets for home break-ins is by going on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

They can even use Google Earth to locate the street a particular house is on, check out the best places around the house they can enter your home and find out if there are any trees or bushes around to obscure their presence from nosy neighbors.

When it comes to social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, some people reveal their home addresses and phone numbers for anyone to see. Many people don't take the time to change their settings on their accounts so that only certain people can have access to that information.

When you're updating your Facebook page, don't talk about how you're going on vacation or you're going to be away from your home for a long period of time. Criminals will take that information and use it to plan when to break into your home.

Make sure you change your privacy settings so that only you and your friends are the only ones who can view your profile. Don't allow "friends of friends" to have access to your information. You don't know who your friends are making online "friends" with.

Keep your phone number and your primary email address off of your profile pages. Don’t include them at all if you can avoid it. There is no need to put your address in your profile. No one needs to know exactly where you live.

The internet makes it easy for people to find each other. It’s fun to find old high school and college friends through Facebook. But, you might end up finding some criminals along the way who become your online “friends” or “friends of friends”.

Home security involves more than just installing a security system. It also involves not revealing too much information about your everyday activities on the internet. It’s okay to have followers on Twitter and “friends” on Facebook getting to know a little about you. But, be careful about giving them too much personal information where they can easily find out where you live.