One former burglar explained that while in the past thieves would pay the postman or milkman for information about the habits of home owners, now that information is freely publicized by people who update their pages with endless details about daily schedules and vacation dates when their houses will be empty (Harry Wallop, "Burglars Using Twitter and Facebook to ‘Case the Joint,'" Telegraph.co.uk, July 20, 2010).

To be on the safe side, don't post excessive details about your vacation plans or daily schedule. Also, make sure that your Twitter and Facebook pages are private to ensure that your information isn't being made accessible to everyone via search engines like Google and Bing.