Please Rob Me: A tool for criminals or simply silly?

Early this morning I was discussing Foursquare privacy and security issues with a friend of mine on Twitter and shortly after our discussion she received a tweet from @PleaseRobMe that read, “Hi @dulcita518, your name just showed up on our website. Please read the why section!” After visiting their Twitter page and following a link in their profile, I found myself on their Web site PleaseRobMe.com. It turns out that the Web site launched today and while on the surface the site appears to be advocating burglaries, it is actually trying to bring some awareness to the risks involved when people use location-based social media services like Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, and others.

How it works is that every Foursquare check-in that is sent to Twitter is aggregated by PleaseRobMe.com and then displayed on their Web site in a list titled “Recent Empty Homes.” The information that PleaseRobMe.com aggregates has always been available for anyone who wants the information so this Web site is simply taking the information, displaying it on their Web site, and retweeting it – nothing more.

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Bravo TV Gift Unboxed

Last week I mentioned I was contacted by Foursquare and Bravo TV informing me I had just won a gift for being one of the first 10 Foursquare users to check-in to a bravo tagged venue and unlock the Bravo Newbie Badge. Today I received my gift from Bravo and as promised I thought I would share it with everyone. Prior to receiving the gift, I was under the impression I would be receiving one small gift, but it was actually several gifts.

When I opened the large box, the first thing I noticed was a nice size Top Chef Grocery Tote embroidered with “THIS BAG IS GREEN.” At first I thought that was the gift, but as I looked inside the tote I saw several items such as a Beach Towel, H2Go Water bottle, Umbrella, Top Chef Cookbook, and a Flip Video Mino. I might have to regift or perhaps pass along the umbrella and grocery tote since those two items do not really fit in with my style.

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Bravo! @ChrisCredendino

Today I received an email from Foursquare informing me that I just won a gift from Bravo TV, a division of NBC Universal, for being one of the first 10 Foursquare users to unlock the Bravo TV Newbie Badge. Bravo TV even chimed in confirming this gift by sending me a tweet via Twitter that read “Congrats @chriscredendino for being among the first to unlock the Bravo Newbie Badge on @foursquare – Enjoy your special gift from Bravo.” Although I have no idea what gift I will be receiving, I’m just happy to be included in the circle of winners.

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Foursquare and Bravo TV Join Forces

It appears Foursquare has landed yet another media partner, but this time it’s not a newspaper, instead it’s the major cable TV network Bravo. According to the New York Times’ Bits blog, Foursquare and Bravo TV, a division of NBC Universal, will announce a new partnership today that will allow users to unlock Bravo-themed badges when they visit more than 500 Bravo-tagged venues and also have the opportunity to win prizes. Bravo is currently in the process of leaving tips and tagging venues on Foursquare that relate to some of their shows such as “The Real Housewives,” “The Millionaire Matchmaker,” “Top Chef,” “Top Chef Masters,” “Shear Genius,” and “Kell on Earth.” These shows will be incorporated into the gaming aspect of Foursquare which uses the real world as a backdrop.

Foursquare Co-Founder, Dennis Crowley, told the New York Times:

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Think Twice Before Accepting Friend Requests On Foursquare

Have you kicked around the pros and cons about whether or not to accept friend requests on Foursquare? When you receive a friend request from someone you know in real life it’s probably a no brainer to accept their request, but if the request is from someone you only know from other social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, or perhaps FriendFeed then you might want to think twice about accepting the request. I’m not suggesting that you should never accept a friend request from someone you met through social media, I am only suggesting that you choose wisely and always remember that the person behind that cute and fuzzy avatar might not be who you think they are in real life.

While Foursquare is a lot like other social media sites in that it is a great way to facilitate connections, keep in mind that it is a location-based service and using such a service will leave a digital trail of your every move. Granted, location-based social media is a lot of fun and it is becoming quite popular these days, but there are a lot of things to consider when it comes to your privacy. For starters, when you use location-based service apps you are forfeiting your privacy to gain a social media experience. You need to ask yourself if removing the online privacy layer is really worth it to you. You see, location-based apps such as Foursquare use your smartphone’s GPS to get your approximate location so you can view a list of nearby venues and check-in. However, when you check-in to a venue, the Foursquare app broadcasts your location to all the friends you accepted on Foursquare. This could be a potential problem for users if they don’t know who is monitoring their location so this is why you need to choose your friends wisely. Some might argue that linking Foursquare to Twitter and Facebook is no different than accepting friend requests from strangers. While there is some truth to this argument, the difference is that you get to choose when you want to broadcast your Foursquare check-ins to Twitter and Facebook. Unless you choose “Off the Grid” within your Foursquare app, all your friends on Foursquare will see your check-ins regardless if you update your status on Twitter and Facebook.

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Foursquare Releases BlackBerry Beta App

Foursquare, the location-based social networking service, rolled out their BlackBerry beta app on Christmas Eve and I was thrilled to receive one of the invites. The company sent out an email to about one thousand people who made the VIP list of beta testers so they could download the app to their BlackBerry and take it for a test drive.

Unlike iPhone and Android users, who were already familiar with a Foursquare app, BlackBerry users were forced to visit the Foursquare mobile site (m.foursquare.com) to “Check-in” to venues so I was stoked when Foursquare released the BlackBerry app. I was ready to download the app, fire it up, and give it a go.

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