This site, PleaseRobMe, got a lot of buzz today because it took the check-in data from Foursquare’s API and listed everyone who is not at home.

I guess this was supposed to illuminate that using Foursquare could make you vulnerable to theft but that is a fallacy.

One, it assumes that because you are out, then no one is at your place of residence. A lot of people that use Foursquare live in expensive urban areas (NYC, SF) where they may cohabitate with roommates or significant others.

Two, PleaseRobMe shows where you are, but not where you live. So even if a burglar is technologically sophisticated to use Foursquare to find out where people are, the next step is finding out where they live.  I know this can also be found online, but people address searches  may actually cost $$, so I doubt that a burglar is going to go through all that. But if said burglar got the address, then they want to look on Google Street View to make sure they got to the right place.

I think PleaseRobMe is just throwing Foursquare a “neg”.  For some strange reason, I have been having conversations about Pick Up Artists lately.

Or it is just a joke.

Update: Time magazine writes about Please Rob Me. I’m starting to suspect that this is a bizarro publicity campaign for Foursquare.