A few weeks ago, a friend of mine posted a picture on Instagram and Facebook. We’ve probably all seen it before, a picture of someone’s boarding pass with commentary about how excited they are to be off to their next destination. I love pictures like this, because I love seeing people traveling the world with those they love and seeing pictures of their experiences. As much as I hear things like “Andy, we live vicariously through your blog!” and “Hey Andy, how about that $20 you owe me!” I enjoy seeing other people’s trips almost as I enjoy going on my own. More travel is very seldom a bad thing in my eyes. There was a problem with his post though, and I’ve seen it countless times: he didn’t hide any of his personally identifiable information. This information is displayed all over boarding passes. Why is this a bad thing? I mean, if someone is Facebook friends with you, then surely they know you, right? Same for Twitter and Instagram? Really?! Of course not. You simply don’t know who can see pictures you post to social media. So why is it bad to post boarding passes to social media? For as often as the airline industry and federal government harp on airport and airplane safety (with good result, airlines are safer than ever), there’s a gaping hole in their systems: the ease of accessing reservations of others. If I’m a social deviant (or worse, a criminal looking to steal data), accessing... read more