You can figure out what store someone goes to via a random household pic
It's not the only personal information indoor photos can reveal
Iβm often asked questions like, βShould I never post photos on social media?β from people who notice how much a single photo can give away. The short answer is, βDo what makes you comfortable.β The long answer isβ¦ Well, letβs first look at a particular exercise and then talk about its implications.
The other day, I posted this photo and asked my followers to check out the info it gives away:
My followers did not disappoint. Perhaps most relevant to online privacy was this response:
Does that freak you out? It should! When you give your specific location away (my Twitter bio says βWashington, D.C.β) and then post a picture with a very specific as opposed to generic item, people can easily find the places where the item is sold.
The tea lights where a gift from a friend, and I have no idea where he bought them (or if he bought them online or in person), but as another D.C. resident, chances are he got them at one of the locations listed!
Other people picked up on the candles too, please donβt think of this as some kind of aberration:
The furniture is also easily identifiable (although Iβm miffed that itβs listed here as much cheaper than it originally cost! Dammit!):
Why is that relevant? Well, what if really did buy that piece from AllModern (I honestly canβt remember), AND I was registered on the site, AND a very clever stalker had found an old password of mine on one of those password dump sites, AND used it to access my AllModern account to get a hold of my address?
Look, it sounds like a nightmare scenario, but it actually happens!
I will get to the implications in a minute, first letβs look at a few other key responses:
YES, KYLE!
A correctly folded American flag can give away what kind of company I keep, the mood in my household, maybe some of my political leanings. Sounds irrelevant, unless youβre foreign intelligence.
Furthermore:
Indeed! Thatβs a very specific hat. Given to me by a very specific person. If you wanted to find out more about the people in my life, you could probably look to see if any of my public social media contacts are wearing the same hat in any pictures (thank GOD this particular dude already has his Instagram set to private).
I could go on and on, there were plenty of other relevant observations, but I hope this exercise makes it clear that a random pic can give away much more information that just, βNATALIA NO LONGER CARES AND WEARS PAJAMA PANTS WITH LEATHER JACKETS BECAUSE 2020.β
Having said all that, letβs go back to the question of whether or not you should post pictures online.
My take? Sure! Pictures are fun! We need all the fun we can get right now! But:
It helps to be aware of what kind of information you may be giving away
If you have a public presence on social media at all, randomize your passwords. I hope the furniture example is enough to make you do just that.
IF YOU HAVE A SENSITIVE JOB, JUST GO AHEAD AND LOCK DOWN ANY ACCOUNTS THAT FEATURE PERSONAL PHOTOS OF THIS NATURE.
Download a simple photo editing app that will allow you to blur certain details. Most of these donβt cost that much!
Make sure your social circle understands potential privacy implications. Privacy begins with getting permission! So if your friends are, for example, posting pictures in your yard, you may want to ask them if itβs going to be posted on a public or private account. Trust me, this is not a paranoid thing to do. The year is 2020. Youβre allowed to have your concerns!
Get a social media specialist, such as me, to consult you. I can be reached at nvantonova [at] gmail (dot) com and my prices are very reasonable, or so Iβm told.
Breathe. All paranoia does is drain us of our energy. The good news about the internet is that there is so much information out there about people that it creates a kind of white noise. Chances are, most of your online decisions are not likely to affect you in a major way! But in order to have peace of mind, you should definitely be in control of the content you post.
As always, Iβm really glad to everyone who participated, and will be returning to the question of posting pictures vs. not posting pictures in future installments of the newsletter! I think itβs a fascinating debate. And I think that the arguments for not posting pictures at all are worth engaging.
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