Facebook recently unleashed a geo-tagging feature called Facebook Places. Very similar to the social networking application Foursquare, users can use their smartphones to get a precise location of where they currently are, and then “check-in” to nearby restaurants, stores, and places that they are visiting.
Many think that posting current locations on Facebook, Twitter, and the likes is just asking for someone to rob your house or car (see here). As Facebook users tend to keep a much greater amount of “friends” than they might on other social networks, such as Foursquare or LinkedIn, the use of Places might be putting you at an even greater risk than similar applications on separate accounts. The introduction of Places is not so much new, unfamiliar technology as it is a much larger platform to announce what should be private information.
Additionally, the default privacy settings on Facebook leave you open to attack. Default settings allows for your Facebook friends to tag you at a location without your permission. It also allows all users, whether friends or not, to see your location under a “People here now” feature.
