Am I Overthinking a Potential Privacy/Security Concern?

[Iamcruzin]

23 minutes ago, DirtyDawg said:

 

You definitively don't want to give out your address and travel plans around here. 

 

You'll never see those mugs again! 😄

LOL. Thank God I'm not Pinnacle. The Pinnacle pin is probably the most expensive piece of jewelry people own given how many cruises they had to pay for to earn it.

Edited May 11, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[KimA75]

2 hours ago, BND said:

But, isn't part of LE jobs to also teach people how to protect their homes against break ins, etc?  I would think you still take precautions, right?

Yes. Don't leave keys hanging or in drawers in case of a burglary. That way they can't also take your car.  We put all keys and valuables in a safe that is bolted to the floor.  

 

Make sure all doors and windows are locked. Make sure you stop the mail and newspaper.  Don't have packages scheduled to be delivered.  

 

Don't put your social security number on paperwork for doctor/dental offices.  (I can't tell you the number of times that info is stolen or sold.) Don't store credit card information on websites if possible.

 

Yes, there are reasonable measures you take to stay safe.  But, the possibility of a stranger joining a social media group to find a house to break into is so minimal I refuse to stress about it.  You can't live life by what-ifs, or you will never live.

[fredflint]

What I have found when asked for the SSN is just put in an invalid one.

 

Most places don't know that 00 in the middle is invalid and so there is no chance picking a real persons number.

 

Conduct a Numident query to identify an invalid SSN. A Numident query is the most reliable means of determining whether we assigned an SSN. If we never assigned the SSN, the online message reads INVALID SSN. Also, identify invalid SSNs with:

• •

  The first three digits (former area number) as "000," "666,” or in the 900 series.

• •

  The second group of two digits (former group number) as "00."

• •

  The third group of four digits (former serial number) as "0000."

[mayleeman]

The burglary risk for funerals is of the house where the deceased had lived  not mere attendees. I know of two families that had that happen to them. A house-sitter is a simple precaution. Burglars usually try to find easy targets, and obits are a source of info. Not all burglars, but it only takes one to turn your grief into mind-numbing anger.

 

Our friends with a safe bolted to their closet floor were burglarized by friends of a floor-refinishing company owners. The burglars got access for hours and merely cut a hole in the floor to remove the safe.

[KimA75]

40 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

Our friends with a safe bolted to their closet floor were burglarized by friends of a floor-refinishing company owners. The burglars got access for hours and merely cut a hole in the floor to remove the safe.

As I said, anything and everything can happen.  You can't even plan for it all, so I don't drive myself crazy trying.  If they want to dig our large safes up from the bolts in the garage floor, they can go ahead and try.  At least it will take them a few hours and our insurance will cover the contents.  

 

Overall, do what you want to make you feel safe.  You can't plan for everything and you can drive yourself crazy trying.  The one thing you don't plan for will always end up being the one thing that is the weak spot.  Just don't drive yourself to being paranoid because I guarantee you won't be able to plan for it all.

[voyager70]

13 hours ago, molly361 said:

Paranoid much?😇

 

Not paranoid.. it's called common sense.  Maybe if you've ever been robbed you'd understand.

 

[fredflint]

Over 40 years ago whenever my parents had a funeral to go to someone always stayed at the house of the person that passed away because people were robbing houses during funerals back then.

[Iamcruzin]

11 hours ago, KimA75 said:

 

Don't put your social security number on paperwork for doctor/dental offices.  (I can't tell you the number of times that info is stolen or sold.) Don't store credit card information on websites if possible.

 

 

My wife works in the medical profession for a major NY hospital. Their forms are up to date but there are still plenty of private practices that still ask for your SS number when supplying them insurance information or new patient information. This is because at one time medicare and medicaid was linked to your social security number. That is no longer true and you don't need to provide that information. Just put a line through it. 

 

 

[Mikew0805]

10 hours ago, KimA75 said:

As I said, anything and everything can happen.  You can't even plan for it all, so I don't drive myself crazy trying.  If they want to dig our large safes up from the bolts in the garage floor, they can go ahead and try.  At least it will take them a few hours and our insurance will cover the contents.  

 

Overall, do what you want to make you feel safe.  You can't plan for everything and you can drive yourself crazy trying.  The one thing you don't plan for will always end up being the one thing that is the weak spot.  Just don't drive yourself to being paranoid because I guarantee you won't be able to plan for it all.

I can't be bothered. My car is in the garage, and I leave the key fob in the car. Otherwise it would be on a key ring holder, right inside the door to the home from the garage. If they want the car, they are going to take it anyway. The only things I have in the safe are things I want to protect from fire.

 

 

[BillsMafiaBabe]

Interesting topic for sure.  When we go on vacation, we have a house sitter and an alarm so I don’t stress about it. That being said I don’t typically post on Social Media prior to my vacation that I’m leaving, but heck ... I go to work every day so being bulgarized could happen whether I’m on vacation or not. 

Like some have said here, I’m more concerned about my credit cards/ accounts but even that everyone of them is as interested in protecting me as I am. 

Edited May 12, 2019 by rsfunk
Delete

[jc3443]

On 5/11/2019 at 5:30 AM, BND said:

But, isn't part of LE jobs to also teach people how to protect their homes against break ins, etc?  I would think you still take precautions, right?

 

Yes of course. But we need to focus prevention efforts on areas that are reasonable and likely a problem. It is far easier for a burglar to drive down a street and look for mail or newspapers piled up to identify a target, than to research who on the internet is on a cruise and try to cross reference that with the ones that are in their area.

 

That said, I am far more concerned with having lights at my house on timers when I am gone, trusted neighbors watching my property and collecting mail, maybe even moving cars around, having a Ring camera system on my property as well as a sign showing my home is monitored by cameras and by a large, angry dog, then I am about who on the internet might be trolling for people out of town. Burglars identifying targets by trolling cruise websites and Facebook is just not something that happens often enough for me to worry about. Like I said earlier though, if it is something that would worry YOU during your cruise then you should absolutely take precautions so that is does not fester in the back of your mind and ruin your vacation. 

[Mythbuster]

On 5/9/2019 at 7:54 PM, MrMarc said:

I am tired of being scared.  While I don't go out of my way to create problems,  remember it happens to an amazingly small percentage of people.  

I guess it's small if you consider 6.64% of consumers experiencing ID theft amazingly small.  That is 1 in 15 people.  I also don't want to be afraid but it is easy to avoid openly providing information and increasing your chances.

[fredflint]

Well if you figure a ship easily can have 4,000 guest that comes to 265 people on the cruise?

I know that my information has been stolen at least twice and right now I have free credit monitoring from 3 different organizations.  One of the hacks basically has all of the usually  security question answers ( School, Mother's maiden name, sold street address etc..) so I have a system to answer the questions with a wrong answer for any question.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Personnel_Management_data_breach

 

They even stole my fingerprints!!!!!!!

Edited May 21, 2019 by fredflint

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, fredflint said:

 so I have a system to answer the questions with a wrong answer for any question.

 

 

 

 

That's such a good idea.  

[travelplus]

This is why I have a  handle not using my real name. Thieves could read personal information online and plan a robbery.   Also someone who has ill intentions could call up the cruise line and cancel your booking or  sign you up against your will for a sale and force you to pay the difference. 

I mean why would someone be so crazy as to post their comings and goings on a public forum with personally identifiable information? I have no sympathies if something does happen as a result of posting such info.

[Iamcruzin]

Does anyone know of any person who's home has been vandalized because they posted their location on social media?

[senrab]

On 5/11/2019 at 10:38 AM, KimA75 said:

Yes. Don't leave keys hanging or in drawers in case of a burglary. That way they can't also take your car.  We put all keys and valuables in a safe that is bolted to the floor.  

 

Make sure all doors and windows are locked. Make sure you stop the mail and newspaper.  Don't have packages scheduled to be delivered.  

 

Don't put your social security number on paperwork for doctor/dental offices.  (I can't tell you the number of times that info is stolen or sold.) Don't store credit card information on websites if possible.

 

Yes, there are reasonable measures you take to stay safe.  But, the possibility of a stranger joining a social media group to find a house to break into is so minimal I refuse to stress about it.  You can't live life by what-ifs, or you will never live.

 

Doesn't this just publicize to the folks at the post office and the newspaper that you're going to be out of town?  It's a vicious cycle because one precaution leads to publicizing it to another group.

 

Honestly, even so much as having a friend or neighbor pick up the mail publicizes it to someone.  So I guess we have to figure out what our risk tolerance is.

[Iamcruzin]

21 minutes ago, senrab said:

 

Doesn't this just publicize to the folks at the post office and the newspaper that you're going to be out of town?  It's a vicious cycle because one precaution leads to publicizing it to another group.

 

Honestly, even so much as having a friend or neighbor pick up the mail publicizes it to someone.  So I guess we have to figure out what our risk tolerance is.

I think these two pose a higher risk than social media.  

[senrab]

3 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I think these two pose a higher risk than social media.  

Quite possibly true, as you know the people at your local post office or newspaper are, well, local.

 

But why make it easy by posting on social media, too?  Just like adding an alarm to an already locked door, just keep it behind one more layer of protection.

[Iamcruzin]

24 minutes ago, senrab said:

Quite possibly true, as you know the people at your local post office or newspaper are, well, local.

 

But why make it easy by posting on social media, too?  Just like adding an alarm to an already locked door, just keep it behind one more layer of protection.

There are settings on social media that only allow friends and family to view your profile. In addition you don't have to add your Address and phone number to the profile. Mine only has the town I grew up in and schools I attended so past classmates can find me if they wish to search. You don't even have to give your full name when registering. My friends and family  all know my address and phone number and when I'm working or on vacation without referring to my postings.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[senrab]

1 minute ago, Iamcruzin said:

There are settings on social media that only allow friends and family to view your profile. In addition you don't have to add your Address and phone number to the profile. Mine only has the town I grew up in and schools I attended so past classmates can find me if they wish to search. You don't even have to give your full name when registering. My friends and family  all know my address and phone number and when I'm working or on vacation without referring to my postings.

  

 

Agree:  Good settings help significantly, but some people don't have the settings quite right.  Also, plenty of people have casual acquaintances added on social media that aren't necessarily as well "curated" as they perhaps should be.

 

I'm not saying it's the highest risk activity.  But it does make sense to take a precaution.  There's a big difference between telling your parents/siblings/children/best friends of your travel plans, and another to post it where people less close to whom you may still be connected (digitally).

 

For example, you mention connecting with former classmates: some of mine I'd place in the acquaintance category rather than in the close friends.  Still happy to hear from them, but not ready to share my vacation plans.

[CruisingSince1982]

On 5/9/2019 at 7:27 PM, johnjen said:

Just a thought. You know, on certain social media sites where there's those set up pages for cruisers and their interests - even some with specific cruises and dates.....someone recently asked "So, when and where is your next cruise?" To my dismay I see lots of people commenting, willingly posting the cruise, ship, and date of their upcoming cruises - without thinking beforehand that their full names are attached.

 

Scenario: "Joe Smith" calls Royal after reading that "Joe Smith on the cruise page is on _____ cruise:

....."Yeah, we're booked on the upcoming cruise on the following date....my significant other knows the booking number, I don't...."
"OK Joe, we see you and xxxx are booked here. What do you want to do?"

Because there was that one time it happened to me. All I did was give RCL our name and I actually at that point in time didn't have our booking number. The agent literally used my name, then asked me for the number....I told him that I didn't have it. But from there, we made changes to the itinerary anyway.

 

And so I'll leave you to post (or just imagine) what can happen from there.
 

 

I never respond to posts like that. It's asinine to post your vacation dates and essentially let everyone know when you will be away. Regardless of whether you have armed guards at your house or not - why would you post that kind of personal information?  Your scenario above just solidifies my stance. 

[johnjen]

6 hours ago, CruisingSince1982 said:

 

I never respond to posts like that. It's asinine to post your vacation dates and essentially let everyone know when you will be away. Regardless of whether you have armed guards at your house or not - why would you post that kind of personal information?  Your scenario above just solidifies my stance. 

Even the most innocent social media post showing you're elsewhere out of your house can trigger theft or a break in....I have caught myself in the past doing it before the concept was thought about.

[fredflint]

22 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

That's such a good idea.  

You can do all sorts of things take the first second or third letter of the question  as the answer

what is the name of your high school friend becomes

 

 hshafoicre

 

or the number of letters in the last word  eight

 

Lots of different combos you can use and the best part is the question gives you the answer.

[LMaxwell]

The less information you give people, the less information they can use to take advantage or rip you off.  

 

Mushroom Management on publishing vacation plans