A lot of people love geocaching websites.  For example, there are apps for Twitter and Foursquare that, under the guise of awarding badges for visiting certain locations repeatedly (and becoming mayor of whatever), are actually dangerous resources for potential criminals.  I mean, you wouldn’t put up a sign that says, “I am not home, please break into my house,” would you?  Warning people of this is the purpose behind Please Rob Me, a new website that warns users that their geocaching apps are actually the online equivalent of a stack of unchecked mail in the mailbox or a pile of newspapers on the porch.

That’s the philosophy behind Please Rob Me.  Basically, it’s just a dressed-up Twitter search page to determine who has privacy holes and who doesn’t.  As their Why page reads, “The danger is publicly telling people where you are.  This is because it leaves one place you’re definitely not… home.  So here we are; on one end we’re leaving lights on when we’re going on a holiday, and on the other we’re telling everybody on the internet we’re not home.”

Jeez, when you think about it that way, it makes me glad I don’t have a smart phone that runs BriteKite or any of those other self-updating apps.  I never really considered the fact that Tweeting what I’m doing or where I’m going might leave my home vulnerable (or could if you lived alone).

Tags: Please Rob Me, pleaserobme.com, social media searches, robbery, privacy protection, geo-caching, Twitter, Foursquare, personal privacy, broadcasting empty homes, protection, avoiding robbery

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