Going on holiday? Think again before sharing your itinerary online


Holidays: a chance to get out of town, work on your tan and post enviable pictures of knees on beaches and poolside. But before you go checking yourself in at Kaiteriteri or Lake Wanaka this summer, here are some tips to ensure your privacy remains private.

Facebook privacy settings: friends only.

Ensure any photos and statuses you share are for “friends only”. You can choose this easily by using this setting – click the ‘world’ icon next to the world ‘public’ and click down to ‘friends only’ option.

 

Speaking of… who are your friends?

We’re no longer in the age of only posting photos on Facebook. Now there's Instagram stories, Snapchat and other online blogs for followers to see. Followers are often strangers; strangers that have some insight into your life and whether you’re home or not. Think again before geo-tagging your location.

 

Countdown to holiday? Countdown to trouble

It’s so tempting to post a countdown e.g. ‘4 sleeps until family vay-cay!’ – but what you’re also doing, is letting acquaintances know your home may very well be empty and open to unwelcome guests.

 

Checking in at the airport and the ‘drink and boarding pass’ Instagram shot

Keep the checking in to the Airport check in counter only. Nothing quite says “no one is at home” like a check-in departing from Christchurch Airport…
Also, be careful with Passport and Ticket photos…If you are going to share photos of your passport and/or tickets, make you’ve obscured sensitive information, like your passport number, or barcodes on boarding passes – barcodes can contain full names and dates of birth, airline loyalty program numbers, ticket sequence numbers… everything someone need to steal your identity. Even among “friends” this can lead to trouble, like the story of the friend who cancelled their friend’s ticket just as they were about to board!

 

Wait until you and your fellow holiday-makers are home before tagging them

When you’re posting about your holiday and tagging the ones you’re with, be sure to wait until they’re home as well before doing so. It’s one thing to share you’re not home, it’s another thing to do it on behalf of someone else. If you’re concerned about being tagged by someone else, you can review this by going to your timeline settings and turning on ‘review tags’ and wait until you get home to approve them.

 


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