Holiday photos on Facebook - you are NOT going to get burgled

[TaterTots]

I've seen a couple of FB-related threads on here lately where the topic of holiday photos has come up. There have been several posts along the lines of 'why would you post holiday pics, you're letting the world know your house is empty, it's practically an invitation to burglars' etc.

Is it just me or is this a) ridiculously paranoid and b) blatantly not true for many reasons?

1. It's very easy to make your profile visible to friends only, which most people do. If you're worried someone on your friends list might take the opportunity to burgle you, why the hell are they on your friends list?

2. Even if you do have an open profile, surely you'd have to put your address on it as well to be at any risk? Surely no one is that daft?

3. Do thieves really trawl FB in the desperate hope of finding an open profile complete with full address, the owner of which conveniently happens to be on holiday? Wouldn't it be a better idea to watch actual houses in the area for signs of emptiness?

4. Who the hell has an FB friends list full of potential thieves?!

I know 1and 4 are essentially the same point, but I feel it's so salient that it's worth repeating.

People have taken cameras on holiday for ever. No-one has ever questioned why someone was taking pictures on a camera rather than enjoying the scenery. Taking pictures on a phone is no different, and sharing them on social media is actually a positive use of those photo's as opposed to the days when you would go and have the films developed and then shove said photo's in a box where they never again saw the light of day.

My fb friends are work colleagues and real life friends. 99% of whom would know I'm on holiday anyway.

YANBU OP. I made the exact same point on a recent FB thread.

My FB friends are the people I'd be likely to be on holiday with, the people who'd know I was on holiday without the help of FB, and friends who live hundreds of miles away and in most cases don't even have my current address. If I were to go on holiday and get burgled - assuming the pet sitter didn't put them off - it's unlikely to be because I posted a few photos of me & DH on holiday and more likely to be because the local scallywags spotted us loading up the car boot with luggage.

Totally agree - what a load of rubbish! Just another thing for FB haters to say. They drive me mad too, it's like hating FB makes you a morally superior person or something If you don't like it, don't use it - you don't need to slag off my choice to use it or act as if i'm some sort of half wit because I like to keep in touch with people.

YADNBU.

Totally agree OP

Why do some people here take such offence when FB is mentioned? There are quite a few who adamantly pro-FB or anti-FB when most of us sane people are in the middle. I like FB. I probably wouldn't advertise any empty house because while I have a very small group of friends on there, as someone said, they might 'like' it and their burglar FB friends knows that I am away and my full name. That said, I'm posting my photos when I come back and I don't care if I'm boring you or you think I'm boasting.

I think the point many of us are making Arf is that the people in the crossover point of the Venn Diagrams of a) knowing the exact dates you're on holiday b) knowing your house is actually empty when you're on holiday and c) knowing your exact address are probably the same people who'd know you were on holiday without Facebook and therefore posting a photo or check-in is unlikely to increase that risk.

To use your example: my best pal might like my holiday photo and by doing so that might pop up on her daughter's FB feed or even her boyfriend's (if I didn't have my settings to "friends only", which I do), if best pal is FB friends with him. But unless they're my friends too (IRL or on FB) they're unlikely to care, are they? It's just another thing Mum/X's Mum has liked about some friend of hers. So they're unlikely to like or comment themselves so "shady mates" are unlikely to see it. And if boyfriend is deliberately passing on details of every holiday post he sees, however tangentially, to his "shady mates" then a) he's shady himself and so my best pal and her daughter knowing I was going on holiday was enough to introduce the burglary risk without FB's help and b) they still have to know/find the address and establish whether the house is genuinely empty. Why would my mate's daughter's boyfriend have my address, or know whether I employed a petsitter/had a non-holidaying relative staying at home? Answer: he wouldn't. It's all just so tenuous and unlikely.

The biggest risk of getting burgled while on holiday is being on holiday and leaving your house empty. Not posting a few FB pics from which it's impossible to ascertain where you live and whether your house is empty.

I have an ex colleague who "collected" FB friends... Old school mates, friends of friends, etc. She's got over 500 people as her FB friends. She counts down sleeps before her holiday on posts, she checks in to airport lounges when she's flying out, she checks in to her "residence" when she's having a movie/takeaway night. I've never been to her house, but google maps has shown me where she lives and I and 500 others receive notifications when her house will be empty (with updates how when they've landed and boo-boo holiday almost over posts 48 hrs before she flies back).

I'm surprised she's not yet been burgled, to be honest.

And yet she hasn't, AbyssinianBanana. Which perhaps suggests the risk isn't as high as many people think.

Plus if she's that annoying, 499 of them have probably unfollowed her by now and are in blissful ignorance of her holiday shenanigans.

only close friends have my address

Go to 192.com and you can look up anyone's address. So if your name is Louise Carr and you've said you live in York they can find all the Louise Carrs in York who might fit the bill. If you have a photo they'll know your approximate age.

I did tweet a photo of the view from my hotel window last year and wondered if I was being a complete idiot for doing so. I did not get burgled but I won't push my luck and do it again. And I have always impressed on my son not to post holidays pics on Instagram until we are home again. Not that he ever really looks at his account anyway.

We were burgled a few years ago. It is such an awful thing to go through. My dd then 8 wouldn't go in the house for two hours. And was in a terrible state. Even now 4 yrs later I might only nip out for 5 mins and I look through the house to the back foot to see if it's hanging off. The items that were stolen broke my heart to loose and were irreplaceable. HOWEVER Facebook was not to blame for this ( I bloody hate FB ) but as a precaution when we had day trips etc we didn't put anything on there. I'm not on FB anymore so it's not an issue.

We were burgled whilst I was upstairs in the shower! Certainly didn't announce on Facebook that's what I was doing and definitely no photos were posted!

If you share pictures of your latest trip, location and dates for when you’re away, insurers may view this as ‘reckless’, which could potentially invalidate your cover. This is because most insurance policies state that you must take ‘reasonable care’ in securing your home and its possessions, which includes being discreet about any holidays.

By making your whereabouts public to everyone, the implication is that you’re not being careful enough in protecting your home.

Isn't this all a bit victim blaming?

Oh you got burgled? Your own fault really for putting photos on social media.

Facebook currently has advanced privacy settings which restrict public view of certain portions of their profile. However, not many users have the feature activated. With the mix of public and private information, details like residential addresses, pictures of the interiors and the exteriors of homes are easily accessible.

More importantly, people should exercise caution when adding friends. By adding strangers, they circumvent the security settings and place themselves in a higher risk of theft.

You would not put a poster on your front lawn saying you will be away between x and y so why do people put sentences like, "day 1 of a 2 week holiday" on social media?.

If you share pictures of your latest trip, location and dates for when you’re away, insurers may view this as ‘reckless’, which could potentially invalidate your cover. This is because most insurance policies state that you must take ‘reasonable care’ in securing your home and its possessions, which includes being discreet about any holidays.
By making your whereabouts public to everyone, the implication is that you’re not being careful enough in protecting your home.

Until recently I would have agreed with you OP. However, a few months ago neighbours went to an awards event and posted on Facebook 'live', including pictures of them on stage when they won (with location). They arrived home the next morning to find their house utterly trashed. It was horrendous. It's a quiet area that's not had burglaries for years. They were only away for one night. Police are adamant that the Facebook post was relevant.

PageStillNotFound404, I don't follow your logic.

If I close my eyes and walk into a busy a road attempting to cross it... Am I placing myself in greater danger and increasing my chances of getting hit by a car? Yes. And yet I didn't yet get hit.

Dickheads who leave an open profile and post holiday pics usually also location tag when they are at their local starbucks or park. Can't be too difficult to track if someone really wanted to. And fools who do that deserve to be burgled and insurance payment withheld.

Can't be too difficult to track if someone really wanted to

Yeah, there are usually only a couple of houses next to a Starbucks or park...

And fools who do that deserve to be burgled and insurance payment withheld.

Now say something similar about how a rape victim deserves to be raped because they've made poor choices... See how far that gets you.

I have someone who advertises her life on FB. She also puts stuff on her businesses FB page. Her address is advertised everywhere

So she's asking for it...?

www.confused.com/home-and-lifestyle/home-security/burglars-turn-to-facebook-and-twitter-to-target-victims

www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3607012/How-posting-holiday-selfie-result-BURGLARY-Social-media-snaps-make-easier-thieves-target-homes.html

Plus "Avoid discussing holiday plans on public social networking sites - burglars can use any information you post on there to their advantage" on
www.police.uk/crime-prevention-advice/burglary/

Of course it is not the victim's fault but the above links do support that it seems common sense not to expose yourself to higher risk than necessary.