Entertainment

Kim K's Robbers May Have Found Her Through Her Snapchat So We're All At Risk

by John Haltiwanger
REUTERS

Could Kim Kardashian's Snapchat have led robbers to where she was staying in Paris?

While we don't know exactly how they found where she was, it's not impossible.

On Sunday night, Kim was held up at gunpoint and tied up in the bathroom as robbers made off with jewelry reportedly worth around $10 million.

She was staying in a luxurious private apartment, which the robbers apparently gained access to after handcuffing and forcing the concierge to open it up.

A lot of details surrounding this robbery remain unknown.

But the incident, which understandably left Kim K very shaken up, might change the way she and her family members utilize social media.

You don't have to be a religious follower of the Kardashian clan to know they are extremely popular on essentially every social media platform.

In the days and hours that led up to the robbery, Kim posted a number of things on Snapchat that could've aided robbers in their planning.

Kardashian even appeared to post snaps from inside the apartment where the robbery occurred.

While Snapchat stories automatically delete after 24 hours and none of Kardashian's stories appeared to be geo-tagged, she's so famous that there are Instagram accounts that take the time to record her snaps and repost them.

She's also constantly updating her various social media accounts and even reportedly posted a snap right around the time of the robbery (2:30 am) of her speaking on a phone with Blac Chyna.

So, as Madison Malone Kircher points out for New York Magazine,

What this means is anybody with a cell phone could map out a pretty good picture of where Kardashian West is and what she's up to, at all times.

Simply put, even if Kardashian isn't geotagging her post, her frequent social media activity could operate as an advertisement for her movements and location.

This is pretty unsettling, and it's not the first time the Kardashians have had to deal with it.

In a July episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," members of the family expressed trepidations about revealing their location through Snapchat.

Everything we do these days leaves a digital footprint.

When it comes down to it, it's really not that hard for people to track you down via social media.

Last year, the US military even located and destroyed a building occupied by ISIS after one of its members posted a selfie that revealed the location.

With that said, and take no offense, you're probably not quite as interesting to most people as someone rich and famous like Kim Kardashian is.

And, hopefully, you're not a member of ISIS or involved in anything that might be considered terrorism.

But we should all think about what we're posting on social media and how much we want to reveal about our activities.

This is why people are advised against posting photos of airline tickets or driver's licenses, for example.

You might also want to consider using an encrypted email, using different passwords for all your apps and accounts and protecting your mobile devices with passwords to make them difficult to access if stolen.

Turning off geotagging might also be something you want to consider, as to not give anyone information about where and when you are in any given location.

Moreover, it might be smart to avoid taking pictures of anything valuable.

In the immortal words of The Notorious B.I.G., "never let no one know how much dough you hold."

None of this implies Kardashian is to blame for what happened to her. It was a crime, plain and simple. Not to mention, we don't yet have all the facts.

But in a world where even a seemingly harmless phone app like Pokémon GO has been taken advantage of by armed robbers, it doesn't hurt to stay cautious.

There are definitely ways you can protect your privacy and even your physical well-being in terms of your online activities and how you utilize social media.

Citations: Did Kim Kardashian West's Snapchat Reveal Her Location to Robbers? (NY Mag)