Much has been said about oversharing your whereabouts on social media. People thoughtlessly post pictures of themselves on a Caribbean beach, a mountain side or a cruise ship announcing to the world their home is unoccupied and their valuables unprotected. Less well-known is that a similar risk exists in automatic email replies.
Before leaving for a vacation, most of us will set up an “Out of Office” email message. For replies going outside your company, be careful not to provide information that could notify a ne’er-do-well your house is unattended. There is no need to publicize you will be “out of town.” Even mentioning a “return to the office” date could provide a tipoff to a thief if the return date is more than a few days out. Inform. Just be careful not to overshare.
Check out our series, Privacy Perils, to learn what steps you can take to guard your personal and company data. For more information about this topic and other cyber security concerns, please contact a member of our Privacy & Data Security team.