1 in 3 young women to risk home security this Christmas – thanks to Social Media
Almost 80 percent of young women in Ireland are ramping up their home security this Christmas – but one in three will jeopardise their attempts thanks to oversharing on social media, says AA Home Insurance.
A survey of over 5,000 people revealed that women aged between 17 and 24 years old are most likely to take extra precautions to safeguard their homes over the festive season. However, their penchant for posting images and information as to their whereabouts means they could be undermining those attempts and presenting their family homes as key targets for burglars.
The survey reports that almost one in three of these young women are likely to upload images of their Christmas haul for their friends and followers to see. Nearly 40 percent say they will likely alert their network, and possibly potential intruders, as to their whereabouts via ‘check-in’ status updates on platforms such as Facebook.
“Social media is a great means of keeping in contact with loved ones, especially over the Christmas holidays,” says Conor Faughnan, director of consumer affairs at The AA. “But something as innocuous as posting an image of the expensive earrings you were gifted helps burglars piece together valuable information about you.
“We would strongly recommend disabling the GPS location feature on your mobile phone – a simple tweet or status update can inadvertently reveal your location to the network and possibly beyond.”
Males of the same age group are slightly more lax when it comes to beefing up home security, the survey reveals. Although 67 percent of young men say they will take extra precautions, they are the least likely to actively consider the security of their home with 22 percent claiming they are ‘neutral’ on the topic. Although their posting on social media does not appear to be as prolific as their female counterparts, almost one in four say they will likely upload snaps of festive gifts. A further 31 percent claim they are likely to post information giving away their exact whereabouts over the holidays.
Other findings from the AA Home Insurance survey reveal that 72 percent of us are going to take extra steps to boost our home security. However, it is women (75%) who are more likely to roll out the measures as opposed to men (69%).
Tips to keep your home safe this Christmas, by AA Home Insurance:
- Ask your teenage children not to post or tweet about any family holiday plans.
- Remove wall postings from friends that may allude to your travel plans.
- Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know this Christmas.
- Review your security settings to restrict access to your personal profile information.
- Use private DM or inbox facilities to communicate private messages this Christmas.
- Don’t tweet or post about your Christmas gifts.
- Wait until after Christmas to post your holiday photos/videos.
- Be creative with where you hide gifts in the run up to Christmas – ensure it’s difficult for thieves to make off with the haul.
- Develop a rigorous exit routine: ensure windows and doors are firmly locked, the alarm set.
- Consider leaving a light on to give the impression that someone is home – a bathroom light can act as a good deterrent given that it could be in use at any time, day or night.
Fig 1. Considering concerns about the security of your home, how likely, if at all, are you to take extra precautions this Christmas?
(Based on 5,257 responses via AA Home Insurance poll during November 2015)
| All ages | Female | Male | Female 17-24 | Male 17-24 | |
| Very likely | 45.68% | 49.11% | 42.89% | 58.82% | 41.30% |
| Somewhat likely | 26.29% | 26.23% | 26.51% | 20.59% | 26.09% |
| Neutral | 15.19% | 12.25% | 17.57% | 11.76% | 21.74% |
| Somewhat unlikely | 5.86% | 6.21% | 5.68% | 2.94% | 2.17% |
| Very unlikely | 6.98% | 6.21% | 7.35% | 5.88% | 8.70% |
Fig 2. Considering the use of social media this Christmas, how likely, if at all, are you to post images or comments relating to gifts?
(Based on 5,257 responses via AA Home Insurance poll during November 2015)
| All ages | Female | Male | Female 17-24 | Male 17-24 | |
| Very likely | 2.76% | 2.96% | 2.47% | 7.04% | 8.16% |
| Somewhat likely | 5.37% | 6.58% | 4.45% | 23.94% | 10.20% |
| Neutral | 6.66% | 5.97% | 7.23% | 8.45% | 10.20% |
| Somewhat unlikely | 8.42% | 8.87% | 8.20% | 15.49% | 12.24% |
| Very unlikely | 49.01% | 53.01% | 46.14% | 43.66% | 44.90% |
| Don’t use social media | 27.78% | 22.60% | 31.51% | 1.41% | 14.29% |
Fig 3. Keeping with the theme of social media at Christmas, how likely, if at all, are you to post images or comments relating to your whereabouts while out and about during the festive season? E.g. posting a ‘check-in’ status update on Facebook.
(Based on 5,257 responses via AA Home Insurance poll during November 2015)
| All ages | Female | Male | Female 17-24 | Male 17-24 | |
| Very likely | 5.72% | 6.42% | 4.96% | 11.59% | 4.76% |
| Somewhat likely | 9.23% | 11.03% | 7.74% | 26.09% | 26.19% |
| Neutral | 8.10% | 7.57% | 8.32% | 21.74% | 16.67% |
| Somewhat unlikely | 13.86% | 15.21% | 12.51% | 23.19% | 14.29% |
| Very unlikely | 64.32% | 61.14% | 67.50% | 27.54% | 40.48% |