Security When Travelling

With Christmas upon us many people will be making plans to travel over the festive period. Whilst most of what follows would fall under the category of common sense there are many users of modern technology who may not be aware of the ways in which mobile devices and social media can reveal that we are away from home and that our houses may be empty.

The most obvious way of avoiding advertising that you are away from home is to not post Facebook messages or Tweets stating that you are on holiday.  However there are other ways in which technology can betray our location.  For example photographs taken with digital cameras, smartphones or tablet devices often include location data embedded within the photo itself.  Along with information like, the make and model of the camera, shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings, often GPS data is included.  So even if the subject of the photo you have taken does not immediately indicate where in the world you are, uploading the photo to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other publicly accessible online service or social media site can still reveal where you are.

There are a myriad of other Apps that make use of location data to provide you with an enhanced experience but again these can all betray your location.  In many cases a quick review of the settings for either the Apps themselves or, even better, the mobile device you are using will often reveal an option to prevent the sharing of location data.  Using these options to deny apps access to your device’s location is a good way to hide that you are not at home.

The best way to avoid publicising that you are on holiday is simply to not post or share your photos until you return home.

Everyone at Avatar UK would like to wish all of our clients a safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.