Hey Hubzers,

The Huffington Post just came out with a list of things not to post on Facebook. The list includes: your birth date and place of birth, trips away from home, your phone number, or less obviously– your child’s name.

You can always play in the safe zone with Facebook’s “Friends Only” feature but how many people have you added as a friend that you don’t exactly know? I’ve been friends with a mysterious Syrian named Simo for years now.

Of course you know that employers can potentially be looking at your Facebook page, but what about stalkers, federal agents, hackers or even insurance companies? There is no way to be sure, but there is a way to be safe– some pieces of information are just not meant to be shared.

What Not to Share

1.  “Your Birth Date and Place” It is heart-warming when a wave of Birthday wishes come your way on your annual holiday, however it is important to make sure you aren’t sharing too much. According to the Huffington Post, “Carnegie Mellon researchers recently discovered that they could reconstruct social security numbers using an individual’s birthday and place of birth.” Handing over your birth date and place is tossing out your financial security. It isn’t necessary to delete your birthday in a big scare, but lets not go into details of procedure, hospital or city.
2. “Your Mother’s Maiden Name” One of the most commonly used security questions tends to be your mother’s maiden name. First pets can hit a grey area with short-lived turtles and carnival goldfish. If your friends with your mom on Facebook and she proudly wears her maiden name on her profile– consider the fact that the only thing between your personal data and a hacker is a surname.
3. “Your Home Address” This is pretty obvious, but if it isn’t obvious– now it is.
4. “Your Long Trips Away From Home” If you are going to tell all your friends about your two week sabbatical to Guatemala, you might want to include a tidbit about your rabid guard dog or retinue of high-tech security cameras installed in every nook and cranny of your property. Also avoid vacation count-downs.
5. “Your Short Trips Away From Home” Facebook places, now integrated into your status, is totally cool but any thief under the guise of a “friend” could use this information to break into your home. There is a site called PleaseRobMe.com, “raising awareness about over-sharing“,  that aggregates and streams location check-ins into a list of ‘all those empty homes out there,’ and describes the recently-shared locations as ‘new opportunities.’
6. “Your Inappropriate Photos” I am guilty of posting inappropriate photos. In my earlier college days I posted a picture of my ass to Facebook and although I received a lot of comedic attention and bad-ass reputation my aunt strongly advised me to take the picture down. I did take it down, immediately, and do not regret my decision (since then I have become friends with CEO of Hubze, David Foster, on Facebook). Mooning all of Facebook was a real gas but apparently even deleted photos have a shelf-life on Facebook servers– whoops. Not to mention I could potentially have admirers that saved the image or the URL. It goes without saying that this instance of over-sharing could eventually come back to bite me in the butt.
7. “Confessionals” Facebook is not the place to say that you hate your boss, broke a Circle K door, dine and ditch, or share any other illegal activities. Additionally, be careful not to over-share about others. One boy was arrested for creating a top 50 hot list of girls at his school and thirteen Virgin Atlantic crew members were fired for insulting safety standards and passengers over a Facebook Group.
8. “Your Phone Number” Be wary of groups that call for phone numbers on account of a brawl with a toilet. These number hoarding events are typically public meaning its visible to everyone in the world– not just Facebook members.
9. “Your Child’s Name” Identity thieves target children as well.
10. “Your Risky Behavior” It has been reported that insurance companies have adjusted premiums based on what users have posted on Facebook. So keep the smoking habits, bungee jumping ticks, and need for speed statuses to a minimum.
11. “Your Profile on  Public Search” If you don’t want to see your profile coming up on a Google search page, you can adjust your privacy settings under Account and Sharing on Facebook.

(via the Huffington Post)