How many times have you logged into your Facebook or Instagram account to see yet another pic of a fancy suitcase next to someone’s brand-name sneakers, captioned #catchflightsnotfeelings?

Or maybe you posted this type of image yourself, because you were at the airport and wanted to let people know that you’re about to leave on yet another trip.

Stop. Every time you post something like that on social media, you are increasing your risk of theft (of your pricey sneakers) or burglary while your home is left unattended. And it’s not just the opportunistic criminals watching your social media posts; your insurer is watching too.

“Social media has opened up new opportunities for insurers to collect data about their policyholders,” says Peter Olyott, chief executive of financial services provider Indwe Risk Services. “With the vast amount of personal information that is shared on social media platforms, insurers and, unfortunately others, can use this information to better understand policyholders’ behaviour, lifestyle and risk factors.”

And let’s be honest. Over the past decade, banks have started to decline paying out when people get phished, on the grounds that they compromised their bank account by revealing their PIN via a fake website. Their logic is that the onus is on you to protect your bank PIN and, if you fall victim to a scam where you ignored the warning signs or revealed your information, that’s on you.

How much longer before insurers start looking at social media and saying, well, you kind of advertised that you owned a Louis Vuitton bag or that your home was going to be unoccupied for two weeks…?

US Insurance Agents highlights a few types of social media posts that could land you in hot water:

Selfies: Regularly taking pictures while driving and uploading them to social media could result in having your policy non-renewed based on the implication that you are a distracted driver.

Text messages: If you share screenshots of text conversations that allude to the fact you were texting while driving, this could cost you. More so, if you were involved in an accident around the timestamp of the conversation in question, an insurer may deny your claim or list you as at fault. And insurers have the right to contact your cellphone provider to check if you were using your phone at the time of an accident.

Geotagging: You might take a photo that doesn’t reveal your location, but the geotagging function on your phone does it for you. If your home is burgled, your insurer could claim negligence on your part if it finds photos uploaded to social media with geotags.

“You can protect yourself against disputed claims just by being aware of how your social media behaviour can impact your insurance risk profile,” says Olyott.

For example, posting about speeding (a pic of your fast car captioned #speedfreak) could lead to increased car insurance premiums or policy cancellation.

In general, most people stick to happy posts on social media. However, “sadfishing”, a term coined by writer Rebecca Reid, refers to instances where people post emotional personal material online to gain sympathy from the online community.

This doesn’t mean that every emotional or sad post is a case of sadfishing. But c’mon, we all know someone who posts things like, “When times are hard, you learn who your friends are” or “check in” to a local hospital, prompting a flood of comments along the lines of, “Oh no, are you okay?”

The problem is that when it comes to your health, posting about it could affect your health insurance coverage, as insurers may use this information to assess your risk level and adjust your premiums accordingly. Your life insurance coverage and premiums could also be affected if you post about your high-risk activities, such as skydiving.

Olyott gives five tips for protecting your insurance coverage while using social media:

1. Avoid posting about expensive items or high-risk activities. If you do feel the need to share your lifestyle with your social media network, do so after the event.
2. Adjust your privacy settings to limit the amount of personal information that is visible to the public.
3. Review your insurance policy and speak to your insurance provider about how social media could affect your coverage.
4. Be honest with your insurance provider about any changes that could affect your coverage, such as a new job or hobby.
5. Be careful about sharing posts through your network. Remember, people in your network may share the posts with their own networks, growing the number of potential viewers who may take exception to the content being shared. Also, be careful about commenting on or liking contentious posts. The legal framework in South Africa dealing with social media content exposes the user to potential consequences of posting and/or sharing inappropriate content, which includes racial, gender, religious, political or sexual content. DM168

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R25.