Maintaining privacy in the digital age can be a tricky thing with everyone having a camera phone on them, wanting to let friends know they’re having a good time or share moments of joy but in order to maintain some semblance of a normal life, there are certain things you just shouldn’t share.
Here are 8 things you should never put up on social media.
1. Passports and Driving License
It’s great to share when going on vacation or if you’ve just passed your test, you like to let people know things are going well and they like to see so but documents often have codes and information that can be easily replicated. Passports, driving licenses and other identification can be taken and replicated for identity fraud so the less information you share, the better.
The same goes for boarding passes which contain flight information and codes can be used to change flights and get access to your private data. If in doubt, just don’t post it.
2. When You’re Away
People will quite often check in at the airport or put up holiday snaps they’ve literally just taken but what many don’t realize is that this is a big, red marker to alert burglars that your house is empty and will be for the next few days. Even if you have a neighbor coming over to check on the cat and bring the post in, it still says that, for the majority of that period, your property is unattended.
Don’t let people know you’re away until after the holiday or unless someone is still at home.
3. Bank Details and Paychecks
People shouldn’t be able to access your account with just an account number and sort code but there have been cases where hackers have started with this information and worked their way in.
Also, friends may know enough information about you, combined with these details, to do some serious damage so bragging about your paycheck on Instagram is a foolish thing to do and best to be avoided and don’t give out details in a public forum. Stick to private messages if you have to.
4. Lottery Tickets and Betting Slips
Winning tickets may not occur all that often but if you do find yourself in this fortunate situation, try and resist the urge to show off. There have been cases where people have shared their betting slips in a photo only to have one of their ‘friends’ replicate the scannable barcode and steal the money.
The same goes for lottery tickets which have a code on so you can claim the money.
5. Home Adress
People will quite often willingly give this out but the fact is, you should try and avoid doing so as people can use it against you when you are out or away.
It’s not as dangerous as other things on this list but it is still not advisable and may well increase the amount of junk mail and cold callers you get.
6. Information About Your Children
Apart from it being really annoying when your Facebook feed is bombarded by pictures of someone else’s kids, it can be a security risk.
Even if you don’t share personal information or times, locations etc. this information/pictures/embarrassing stories can come back to haunt your child in the future when they are looking for work and employment.
7. Work Complaints
Airing complaints or disparaging views about your employer on social media is a sure way to get the sack. It may seem safe if you have tight privacy settings but all it takes is an over-zealous colleague to point it out and you’re in for the chop.
Keep it to private conversations if you absolutely need to let off some steam but it’s best to avoid sharing it at all. You may not like your job but you probably need the money.
8. Copy and Paste Updates
The statuses you constantly see saying that the social media platform will change your privacy settings if you don’t post it or will start charging are all rubbish. For one thing, companies don’t rely on social media to inform you of important policy changes, it’s not the done thing, and secondly, most of these status updates are thought up by marketing teams for one reason or another.
In a worst-case scenario, it could be a phishing scam in order to collect data and at best case, it’s really irritating so just stop doing it!