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Please Rob Me: a Foursquare/Twitter crime-spree in the making
As if to prove right everything that we’ve warned about in the past about geolocative media, here’s a Foursquare/Twitter mashup called PleaseRobMe.
By collecting all those Foursquare checkin tweets that people broadcast to the world, the site provides a one-stop shop for burglars wanting to find their next target. After all, if you’re checking on on Foursquare, you’re probably not at home.
On the site’s ‘Why’ Page it states:
“Don’t get us wrong, we love the whole location-aware thing. The information is very interesting and can be used to create some pretty awesome applications. However, the way in which people are stimulated to participate in sharing this information, is less awesome.”
Harsh but true. To play fair with those whose tweets the site uses the PleaseRobMe Twitter account to send a warning message to potential burglar targets.
The site, built by three Dutch developers, is more about making a point about geolocative media than promoting crime.
One the site’s coders Boy van Amstel tells us:
“This project started with us being annoyed with people sharing their home address on Twitter and Foursquare. To make a point, we thought of this provocative way of letting them know what the consequences could be.
A lot of people seem to think that Twitter is like a chat client, with messages only visible to people you send them to, but this is only true if you set your Twitter privacy settings correctly”
Please Rob Me provides a timely warning in an exciting time for geolocative social media.
[Thanks to Gary Williams for the tip.]
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Discussion - 26 Comments/Pingbacks RSS feed for comments on this post
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This argument always strikes me as slightly paranoid. Telling people where I live doesn't (necessarily) make my house easier to burgle (any more than telling people the name, account number and sort code of my bank makes it easier to steal my money.)
1) The address of my house is public domain by default: all you need to do is walk down the street, and you'll see it (along with hundreds of others.)
2) Many houses OTHER than mine are empty. Often they are empty during the day, when a majority of people are at work.
3) Knowing that I am not at my house is not the same as knowing that my house is empty.
4) Knowing that I am not at my house, and that my house is empty (based on correlating and cross-referencing the 4sq logins for me, my wife, our domestic help, and any visitors who may be staying with us this week) is not the same as being able to crack our various locks or disable our alarm systems.
Most breaking & entering is — I believe — opportunist crime. I don't believe that the great majority of B&E is carried out by criminal masterminds.
Furthermore, I believe that the level of smarts & education and the access to sufficient technology to optimize break-ins according to feedback on geolocative services could probably earn you greater money with less risk in almost ANY other field of endeavour than breaking and entering.
If you're going to be paranoid, why not BEGIN by installing some security?
Americans keep at least one gunman at home at all times and those tweets are bait like fishing…
About time someone did this. Broadcasting your location to the world has never struck me as being particularly smart.
These are really good points – at the moment the chance of a crime being committed thanks to tweeting your location is low. However, the threat is still a real one and making people aware of the possibility is an honourable thing.
I think that's slightly off the point. The purpose of this campaign is (I believe) to discourage one from broadcasting one's home address through location-based services (although I hesitate to point out again that one's home address is generally a matter of public record) whilst simultaneously using those same location-based services to tell people that one isn't at home.
You raise an interesting point, though. Why are we only concerned with housebreakers? Surely location-based services are a boon to other members of the technology-literate criminal demimonde? Stalkers, footpads and muggers spring immediately to mind.
And if we hack peoples TomToms & Garmins, perhaps we might see a resurgence in Highwaymen?
I think that's slightly off the point. The purpose of this campaign is (I believe) to discourage one from broadcasting one's home address through location-based services (although I hesitate to point out again that one's home address is generally a matter of public record) whilst simultaneously using those same location-based services to tell people that one isn't at home.
You raise an interesting point, though. Why are we only concerned with housebreakers? Surely location-based services are a boon to other members of the technology-literate criminal demimonde? Stalkers, footpads and muggers spring immediately to mind.
And if we hack peoples TomToms & Garmins, perhaps we might see a resurgence in Highwaymen?
Last month I wrote a post about committing location based checking suicide and this is just a perfect application. Love the brandjack, hate that it is needed.
The real fear for those who mention where they are with Foursquare, etc. is women who may be stalked online from someone who would like to know where they are. Granted, this will not always be the case, but something that women should think about. Just my opinion.
Because stalking only became an issue with the advent of the internet…
hi i bet all the stalkers in the world look at this
I Get Party ! ! !
First Rob me ! ! !
I Get Party!
First Rob me ! ! !
(House is Dog) : P
I Get Party!
First Rob me ! ! !
( House is Dog ) : P
I Get Party!
First Rob me ! ! !
( House is Dog ) : P
My Dog name: 'kokrochina”
At the bottom of the site: “Please Rob Me” it says this:
Our intention is not, and never has been, to have people ——>> burgled
what a bunch of simple minded idiots
these people wont give their address to strangers yet the fools post their address on this web site.
please rob me
Not that I'd know anything about this myself, you understand, it's just what I've heard second or third hand, but…
B&E pros don't give two craps about your tweets unless you're a hard target, in which case, they know every single thing about you. Where and when you get coffee, when you get on the train at which station, etc, etc, etc.
If your house is hit, it's because you live in an easily-robbed neighborhood. Eyes in the windows and feet on the street DURING DAYLIGHT HOURS WHEN YOU'RE ALL AT WORK is your #1 deterrent. Crime-studyin' dudes call it “collective efficacy“. Check it out next time you take a break from being 'mayor' of some coffee shop.
We are also concerned about the privacy of these check in products but recognise the benefits of location services. To overcome the privacy issues we have developed an iPhone app called “Im OK” that allows you to check in privately with family, friends and work mates without broadcasting your location to the world.
Facebook: The End of Privacy: http://bagtheweb.com/b/lxYGFU
Message to add sites that document the erosion of privacy on Facebook. #privacy
a tongue-in-cheek idea. With all the talk about the dangers of location-based services, I started to wonder: People share their thoughts (foursquare, Google Buzz (GOOG), brightkite),