Security firm Precreate Solutions, based in Chelmsford,is offering a new service to its clients who are going away on holiday. Instead of mobile patrols, an expensive alarm system or a noisy dog, Precreate is offering to keep your social networking sites updated to give the appearance that you haven’t actually gone anywhere.
While many think the whole purpose of a sun-fused beach holiday is to be able to rub it in the nose of your friends, and post beautiful pictures while you’re away on Facebook and Twitter, its actually a security risk:
Company director Gary Jackson claimed that “Putting up a Facebook posting of photographs on a beach to 300-400 ‘friends’ is like leaving an advert on your door to a burglar telling him when you will be out.”
Services like PleaseRobMe.com were setup to highlight the insecurities of announcing if you were out for the night or on holiday. The service, now stopped, provided a filtered search of tweets showing people who were publicly stating they were away from their home and gained huge media attention, and from some criticism.
While I agree that taking steps to ensure your vacation times are not known to all the world, a social PA service hired to fool your friends into thinking you haven’t really gone anywhere is a service I won’t be needing anytime soon. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) provides some useful guidelines on how to maintain your Location Privacy.
Lover of all things relating to Social Media, writer for TechontheGo.co.uk, and keen poker player.
