Social networking website users urged to use caution
Over a third of UK adults are regularly using social networking sites to update people on their actions and whereabouts, without consideration of the risks associated - according to research by The Co-operative Insurance.
70 per cent of adults in the UK are using social networking websites at the moment. Of these, 36% use websites such as Facebook and Twitter actively to make people aware of a whole range of personal information including where they are, what they are doing, and how far future events such as holidays (35%) are.
The amount of information that users of social networking websites admit to freely divulging to their ‘friends' such as photographs of themselves (66%), date of birth (42% ), marital status (60%) and family details (12%) in isolation may seem fairly harmless however together and in the wrong hands may lead to a variety of problems.
By divulging so much personal information people are not only risking identity fraud, they are also increasing the chance of personal attack by updating on their whereabouts and the burglary of their home and theft of personal possessions, such as their vehicle, by openly updating about where they will be at a certain point in time. Almost two thirds (66%) of people admit to using social networking websites to find out what others are doing.
52 per cent of social networking adults claim to know their ‘friends' on the websites however don't see them regularly whilst one fifth (21%) admit that whilst they know most, many are 'friends of friends'. This is particularly worrying as 23 % of users have uploaded images of their home and car onto these websites whilst 14% have gone that step further and have made their address details freely available.
This is despite almost two thirds (63%) of UK adults believing that they would not be able to make a claim on their home insurance, due to a burglary, if they had clearly documented their movements on social networking websites.
David Neave, Director of General Insurance at The Co-operative Insurance, said: "Social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace are fantastic ways of linking up with friends, old and new and sharing news amongst other things however these websites need to be used with caution.
"A common sense approach when using social networking websites is key. You have to ask yourself ‘would I be happy to divulge this information normally?' If not, you shouldn't make people aware of it online.
"Whilst it may seem harmless to countdown to an event such as a holiday, if an opportunist person stumbles across information, which clearly tells them when your house is not going to be occupied, you are vastly increasing the chance that your house will be burgled.
"Unfortunately, whilst the majority of people use these websites as they are intended, there is a minority group which will be using them for their own illegal gains and therefore it is very important to be vigilant and err on the side of caution when updating statuses."