Money worries
People posting regular updates particularly detailing their whereabouts on social networking sites could eventually face a hike in their home insurance premium, a price comparison site warned.
Perhaps confirming sceptics' beliefs that location-sharing services on social networks such as Facebook Places could present unscrupulous soles with crime opportunities, Confused.com has highlighted a burglary spree in the US.
A burglary ring in New Hampshire reportedly targeted people who had ‘checked-in' to venues via Facebook Places, effectively advertising the fact they were not at home leaving the thieves to break into 50 homes and nick about $100,000 of stuff before they were caught.
Gareth Kloet, head of home insurance at Confused.com said: "What's happened in the US could be the start of a worrying trend and if insurance providers see it as a potential risk, you can bet your home contents on the fact they'll start pricing for it."
He said services like Facebook Places that have about 500m users and broadcast people's locations will obviously pose some risks.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we see rises of up to 10% for social media users in the future," he added.
Kloat believes criminals are becoming more tech savvy and even use Google Earth and Street View to plan burglaries with military precision.
"Insurance providers are starting to take this into account when they are assessing claims and we may in future see insurers declining claims if they believe the customer was negligent," he said.
Confused.com has recommended its customers avoid posting their home address or phone number on social networking sites plus set their security settings so strangers are not able to fish for information to avoid insurance complications.
It also advised people to turn off location-based services unless they ‘absolutely need to use them,' which may not make pleasant reading for Gowalla, Foursquare and newcomer Facebook Places which are rumoured to be expanding their check-in services.
