SUMMER 2025 7 REACH Long-awaited vacations are exciting, and it’s only natural to want to share your photos and travel stories on social media. However, your posts could inadvertently be putting your home security at risk by letting burglars know when you’re away. ARE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS INCREASING YOUR RISK OF BURGLARY? Here are the main areas of concern and how to address them: Including your location in posts gives thieves valuable information. When you post an update on many social media sites, they will ask whether you’d like to include your location. For example, Twitter’s location icon lets you choose the city and state you’re currently in, or you can turn on “share precise location,” which will share your exact GPS coordinates. Security experts recommend that you never enable location services for social media sites or add location tags. Why? Because if you post your location while you’re at home, thieves have your address. All they have to do is wait for you to later post that you’re away on vacation, and they have a vacant house (otherwise known as an easy target) for a burglary. Don’t post about your vacation until after it’s over. We know it’s tempting to show off your toes in the sand or your family in front of a landmark in real time. But it’s a better idea to wait until you’re back home to share your vacation photos, and when you do, make it clear that the vacation is now in the rear view mirror. If you really want to post about trips while they’re happening, create a private photo album on a site like Flickr or Google Photos and share it only with family and close friends. Remember, you don’t want to return home from vacation to find your belongings stolen or damaged. Take precautions before and during your trip to help keep burglars away. Find recipes at: Consolidated.com/cookingcrave Mail recipes to: Consolidated/Rhonda Fitterer PO Box 1408 Dickinson, ND 58602 Wednesday Evenings and Thursday Afternoons on Consolidated Channel 18
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