Twitter user says vacation tweets led to burglary

Twitter user's tweets revealed he was out of town. Did that tip off a burglar?

(Credit: Twitter)

Here's either a cautionary tale or an example of social-media paranoia. An Arizona man believes that his Twitter messages about going out of town led to a burglary at his home while he was away.

Israel Hyman posted to approximately 2,000 followers on Twitter that he and his wife were "preparing to head out of town," that they had "another 10 hours of driving ahead" and later, that they "made it to Kansas City."

When he came home, he found that someone had broken into his house and stolen thousands of dollars worth of video equipment he used for his video business, IzzyVideo.com, which he uses for his Twitter account.

"My wife thinks it could be a random thing, but I just have my suspicions," he told the Associated Press. "They didn't take any of our normal consumer electronics."

Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to advertise to the world that your home will be unoccupied for a period of time. I also don't think it's necessary to reveal too many other personal details on social media sites that could be used for identity fraud, like your birth date.

The real-time aspect to mobile uploads makes this situation even more risky and location-aware technology seems like it would be a great tool for spies of all kinds. In this excellent article in Wired, Mathew Honan records his experience being a social geoapps guinea pig.

"Did I really want to tell the world that I was out of town?" he writes. "Because the card in my camera automatically added location data to my photos, anyone who cared to look at my Flickr page could see my computers, my spendy bicycle, and my large flatscreen TV all pinpointed on an online photo map. Hell, with a few clicks you could get driving directions right to my place--and with a few more you could get black gloves and a lock pick delivered to your home."

As a test, he innocently stalked a woman taking a photo in Golden Gate Park with her iPhone 3G. He searched the Flickr map and found one of the shots the woman took and verified it was her by viewing her photo stream. He then looked at her photos on the Flickr map and saw a cluster of images in one spot. The shots were of an interior of what was likely her apartment.

"Now I know where she lives," he writes.

[jackiesampieri]

that is why you don't have to tell eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevery thing to eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeveryone
no one really has to know that you are on your way to hawaii and that your house is all alone
now do they?

[knolte]

OH but how else is someone going to know if I in bathroom taking a CR*P they maybe trying to call me oops drop my phone in the toilet again.....

[rossmccloud]

what an idiot.

[svk1069]

I live in Arizona and know who this guy is. He is a shameless self-promoter. His break-in had NOTHING to do with Twitter. It was a normal burglary targeted at a house that looked too obvious no one was there. He came up with the Twitter tie-in to get on the news and promote his business. It worked. His story is all over the news as a "cautionary tale."

Yes, I don't think it's wise to broadcast too much information on Twitter, but this guy is just looking to make a name for himself.

[donsms]

Did everyone forget about common sense?

This is a very hard problem for one person companies. You need to tell your customers you are away; otherwise they will not know why you are not returning there phone calls. However you don?t want a lot of people to know you are away.

I have also seen this problem with Church pastors, the church news letter that is on the website and notice board, has to say the pastor is away and who to contact instead. The Church office is often in the pastor?s house, so anyone can find out were he lives?

[adamg0511]

Last time I checked, my home address was not listed in my twitter profile. Of all the ways people can rob you while you are away, Twitter is not going to be a great resource.

[bluecheeseorgray]

Of course, when your Twitter account is tied to your business domain name, and your business domain name registration contains your physical address it also becomes quite easy.

http://whois.domaintools.com/izzyvideo.com

[bluecheeseorgray]

Of course, when your Twitter account is tied to your business domain name, and your business domain name registration contains your physical address it also becomes quite easy.

h t t p : / / whois . domaintools . com / izzyvideo . com

[Harrison912]

As a web site owner of safety and security products, I publish a forum and have a safety tips page. On both of these I explain the need to be discrete with any vacation plans. Whether the burglars knew he was away because of his tweets or not, it's never a good idea to broadcast that you're going to be away.

If, as some have commented here for business reasons, you need to let people know you're going to be away, at least set up a surveillance camera. The hidden or covert ones that I have on my site are the best because burglars don't know they are being filmed and then take steps to disable the camera. At least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you've done something to help law enforcement catch the thief.

[setjeff15081947]

HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! ? Giuck! ? Giuck! ? Giuck!

[rustylite2001]

You got what you asked for suckerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

[Magallanes]

Internet first (gold) rule:
Anonymity is not a privilege but a must.

Internet second rule:
Trust no one.

Who say that he was really robbed and it is not just a scam to increase their popularity?.