Twitter!

I've started using it (expatben) and enjoy reading it and posting sometimes, but this stuff should be used with care. When I was in the Green Zone in Iraq last year I was almost killed by a rocket meant for Condoleezza Rice. Just because she was about a mile away giving a speech. It was a scheduled visit and was just the way it is. No one was killed by that rocket because whoever launched it forgot to put the war head on it, idiots.

Later last year a Senator (I won't say which one), Twittered that he was in Iraq at Baghdad Airport and that his phone was working. When a high level official go to a war zone, their visits are unannounced for there safety and the safety of the people around them. Most of the time it is part of his security detail that will pay with lives for slip ups in security (this is why pros don't want senators to have classified material, they can't keep their mouth shut). Someone will try to kill the senator and the security team will stop them at all costs. One of those costs could be the life of someone on the detail.

Must of us won't have that much security to worry about, but you should not post to the world when and where you are going. Know your media. If anyone can see what you post, then don't post realtime info about where you are and how long you will be there (Post after you left). On sites like MySpace that you can let only approved people see your posts, make sure you haven't let anyone that you don't know personally to see posts about where you are and where you are going.

Clark Howard just did a story about how criminals are following these sites to see when people aren't home to burglerize your house. They are also using what you post to do identety theft. So be careful what you post.

Read more at ModernSelfProtection Blog