Sharing images and information can be dangerous
Once you put information online, there’s no way to get it back.
“Don’t post personal things unnecessarily,” Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) Captain Frank Copeland said.
For thieves and predators, social media is a hunting ground.
Information or photos that feel safe to you could actually be risky to put out publicly.
“There’s all kinds of ways that people can download this data or at least save it and do whatever thing that they do,” he said.
Often, scammers will operate social media pages that ask people questions in posts.
“What is the name of your first pet?” is a common security question. But on Facebook, people will often jump to provide the answer in the comments section.
“Kids’ names and birthdays and all this kind of stuff are things that people use for passwords,” Copeland said.
When a Facebook post asks for your favorite movies or favorite 1980s songs, it’s often not because the poster likes you. It could be because they’re hoping to get information you have used as a password.
It can also be dangerous to put your pictures online. A photo can catch the attention of a stalker.
“You can figure out where someone’s living, or at least where they go, what they like to do,” he said.
If you are on vacation, don’t post about where you are. If people know you aren’t home, they can rob your house.
“That’s the kind of stuff that can come back and haunt you,” he said.
Although Copeland advised people concerned about online security to delete their social media accounts, he admitted that he hasn’t done the same with his own.
If you don’t want to delete your account, it’s good to change your privacy settings so only your friends can see what you post, and be careful in the information you reveal.
“I just don’t like posting things on Facebook myself. I’m a little paranoid,” Copeland said.