Pleaserobme.com is a new site that displays people’s location updates as a safety warning to the public not to publicise their whereabouts to the world.

A new website – pleaserobme.com – has been launched, which reveals empty houses around the UK, warning homeowners of the risk of publicising their holidays and current location online.

Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook allow users to post updates about themselves. Pleaserobme.com points out that status updates that show a person is in the pub or going on holiday the next day simply show when that person’s house is, or will be, unoccupied – ideal  information for potential burglars.

The website claims to “list all those empty homes out there” and has a live record of all “new opportunities” listed on Twitter. The updates on Twitter come through the mobile game application, Foursquare, which players use to upload details about their location, collecting points along the way.

The site’s Dutch creators said: “The danger is publicly telling people where you are. This is because it leaves one place you’re definitely not… home. So here we are; on one end we’re leaving lights on when we’re going on a holiday, and on the other we’re telling everybody on the internet we’re not home.

“The goal of this website is to raise some awareness on this issue and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc. Because all this site is, is a dressed up Twitter search page. Everybody can get this information.”

The Daily Telegraph newspaper has spoken with Simon Davies, Director of the Privacy International campaign group, who said: “It is completely and totally irresponsible. They have raised a poignant and important issue about what people disclose on the internet but they could have done this so much better. They could have left out the details of people’s addresses.

“What they have actually achieved is providing a one-stop-shop for burglars rather than achieve their goals, which are to raise awareness.”

The website’s creators claim they built the website “just for fun. Our intention is not, and never has been, to have people burgled.”

What do you think of this website? Are the site’s creators benevolently offering harsh, but fair, safety advice to homeowners? Or do you think criminals have more to gain from the site than the seemingly naïve public? Let us know your thoughts below.