Oversharing travel plans on social media

Many of us, almost on reflex, like to overshare on social media. Chief among details we like to wax eloquent about are our travel plans. Some go to the extent of posting photos of boarding passes so that their friends and followers get to see where they are travelling to, on which date and in which class. The crimes that follow — home burglaries and identity thefts — have been getting reported for years now, and yet people choose to turn a blind eye, preferring to put their private lives out in the public domain despite the caveat.

Recently, the UAE Public Prosecution took to Twitter to apprise the public about the dangers of posting travel details and photos on social media. A case has come to light: someone’s house was robbed because he had announced he would be out of the country for a particular period of time. Then there are cases where criminals access personal details from bar codes on boarding passes (that are posted as trump cards) — this can result in something as drastic as an identity theft, where bank accounts are wiped out in minutes.

• Opinion