1. Check-ins and Geotagged photos
Raising awareness of your location may seem tempting if you’re visiting an exotic location or hot new restaurant in the city. However, this feature gives people insight into your whereabouts at any given time and may prove to be dangerous in some situations. Keep in mind that Facebook statuses are defaulted to public therefore people outside of your social network may use these prompts to initiate illicit activity. Also be mindful of sharing your work or home address.
2. Photos and updates about your kids
Sharing one or two shots of your son or daughter’s first day at school is fine. However, photos or status updates that may reveal details of your children’s whereabouts and activities outside of the home may be putting them at risk.
3. Vacation details
Informing others of your travel dates and destinations may be an invitation for potential robbers and break ins. It’s also recommended that you post vacation photos once you have returned not while you are away.
4. Personal details that you use as password clues
Be mindful of posting any information you use as a password clue. Many people use information such as their home town or mothers maiden name as password reminders. Potential thieves may be able to gain insight into your password prompts by using your social media networks.
5. Your full birth date
Everybody likes to get a little birthday love on Facebook. However, this information can be used for identity theft purposes. Using the Facebook privacy settings you can control how your birth date is displayed. One recommendation may be to simply display the day and not the year thus limiting exposure to potential fraud associated with your birth date.
6. Details about a recent breakup
Although it may be tempting to slam your ex using your Facebook status or a bitter Tweet sharing intimate details about your life is not recommended. Changing your relationship status to recently single may also attract unwanted attention from your latest cyber stalker.
7. Complaints about your boss or employer
Word gets around and news travels quickly if you had a bad day at work or are looking for a new job don’t announce it publicly on a social media network. You may just be having a bad week and you don’t want to send the wrong signals to current employers. Also, think about how your new employer will react if they discover slanderous posts about past work experiences.
8. Details about a new work project or potential new client
Business is competitive. If you work in a situation where you have access to information regarding new company projects or clients resist the urge to share details with your social networks. It may be exciting and your intentions may be harmless but your competitors may be viewing your social network feeds to monitor your company’s activities.
9. Your phone number
Unless you want to receive a call every two days informing you that you won a trip to the Bahamas avoid posting your real number to your social Media Networks. If you want to supply a number to close friends or family members do so using a private message or email.
10. Embarrassing photos of yourself or friends
A photo is worth 1000 words. You may have had a great time last Friday night but sharing photos of yourself or friends drinking or partying may send the wrong signals to colleagues and potential employers. Keep personal photos private if you would like to share consider doing so over a different medium such as e-mail or personal picture message. Services such as Snap Chat also provided users with a way to send temporary photos to a controlled user group.