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On holiday countdown? Don’t tell the burglars!

Social media gives burglars all the information they need to target your home

Holiday countdown apps are a great way to get excited (and organised) for a forthcoming trip. Simply enter your departure date and time and it will give you a live countdown to the minute till you leave. However, if you share your screen shots on social media (like so many do) you are potentially sharing this very detailed information with people who would use it to target your home for burglary.

By posting when you’re going away, you’re effectively telling people exactly when your house will be unoccupied and letting them know they have at least several days when they won’t be disturbed.

But I have tight security settings!

You may well have very tight security settings on your social media but there are many ways your posts could still be seen by people other than your close friends and family. For example if you tag someone, if someone tags themselves, if your photos are visible even if your posts are not, if someone shares it or even if someone you know mentions it when down the pub or someone sees it over their shoulder. There are so many ways that you can lose control of your posts once you put them out there.

It’s not just holidays

Your holidays are obviously prime information for the wrong sorts of people but other common events can also provide opportunities for would-be intruders: a big birthday could reveal that there are likely to be gifts and cash in the house; a barbeque could indicate that people are likely to be occupied in the back garden, making it much easier to sneak in or a forthcoming holiday could indicate a big wad of holiday spending money sat there in the house ready for your trip.

Keep your countdowns to yourself

By all means create yourself as many countdowns as you want on your phone or computer but just think twice before sharing them on social media. (And, in truth, nobody really cares that much about your forthcoming holiday, sorry).

Worried about your friends and family sharing their countdowns? We’ve created these memes that you can share. Download below or share from our Facebook and Twitter profiles.

Holiday countdown - unoccupiedHoliday countdown - spending money

Holiday countdown - garden party

Holiday countdown - birthday