How Your Google Reviews May Compromise Your Safety

Posted by spyboy

In today’s digital age, online reviews are a crucial part of many platforms like Google Maps, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and other business directories. They help people find the best restaurants, gyms, shops, and more based on real-world experiences. As consumers, we often leave reviews to share our opinions with the world. However, there is a hidden cost: your privacy.

Every time you leave a review, especially under your real name or personal account, you might be revealing more about yourself than you think. This post dives deep into how leaving reviews can expose your location and personal details, what the risks are, and how to safeguard your privacy online. We’ll also explore various open-source intelligence (OSINT) tools like Epieos, GHunt, and others that can be used to assess how much information you’re unintentionally sharing—and how to delete that data.

How Reviews on Google Maps Can Expose Your Location and Identity

Leaving a review might seem harmless, but consider this: when you post reviews, you’re leaving behind breadcrumbs about where you’ve been, how frequently you visit certain places, and potentially, where you live or work. These pieces of information can add up and provide malicious actors with a window into your private life.

1. Public Association Between Your Identity and Physical Locations

Many users link their real identity to their Google account, with their full name, profile photo, and other personal details. When you leave reviews tied to that account, anyone viewing those reviews can see your name and profile picture alongside a list of businesses you’ve reviewed. This allows someone to easily connect you to real-world locations.

Example: You review a local café every morning. If someone wanted to track your habits, they’d know you visit this café frequently and could infer that it’s near your home or workplace.

2. Revealing Your Routine and Habits

Over time, leaving reviews on certain places can reveal your routine, habits, and lifestyle. If someone consistently sees reviews for a gym, restaurant, or workplace near a particular area, they could determine patterns in your movements.

Example: Leaving reviews on a gym, grocery store, and restaurant near your home can give someone a rough estimate of where you live. This could become dangerous if someone has malicious intentions, such as stalking.

3. Real-Time Tracking

If you leave reviews right after visiting a place, it gives anyone viewing those reviews a real-time update on your location. A person watching your review activity could figure out where you were at a specific time, putting you at risk of being tracked.

Example: If you post a review right after eating at a restaurant, someone with access to your reviews can deduce that you’re in that area at that moment.

4. Aggregating Data for Long-Term Profiling

Every review you leave is a data point. When aggregated over time, someone can build a detailed profile of your likes, dislikes, preferences, and routines. This type of profiling is valuable for marketers and even more dangerous if used for social engineering attacks or identity theft.

Example: Over several months or years, reviews you leave on clothing stores, gyms, bars, and restaurants can create a profile of your spending habits, lifestyle, and personal preferences. This data could be exploited by marketers, hackers, or other malicious actors.

5. Exposing Your Location in Multiple Cities

If you travel frequently and leave reviews in different cities or countries, you’re giving away even more personal information. It can reveal your travel habits, favorite vacation spots, and even your employer’s headquarters if you’re traveling for work.

Example: Frequent reviews in a particular city every week could indicate you’re traveling there for business. This might reveal your employer’s location or even sensitive job-related information.

Should You Stop Reviewing or Use a Different Account?

Given these privacy concerns, should you stop leaving reviews altogether? Not necessarily, but you should definitely be mindful of how you review and what information you’re revealing.

What You Can Do to Protect Your Privacy

Use a Pseudonym or Anonymous Account: Instead of using your real name and personal Google account, create an anonymous account specifically for leaving reviews. Make sure this account is not linked to any other personal data.
Remove Identifiable Information from Your Profile: If you prefer to use your personal account, consider removing your full name, profile picture, or other identifiable details that could be linked to your real identity.
Delay Posting Reviews: Rather than posting a review right after visiting a location, wait a few days or even weeks. This will prevent anyone from tracking your real-time location.
Avoid Reviewing Personal Locations: Refrain from reviewing places that reveal too much about your daily routine or where you live, such as your local grocery store, gym, or favorite neighborhood café.
Use Google’s Privacy Settings: Adjust your privacy settings in your Google account. You can turn off location history, prevent Google from collecting certain data, and restrict who can see your reviews.

OSINT Tools to Assess Your Exposure

If you’re concerned about how much information you’re unintentionally sharing online, there are several Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools that can help you track down the data associated with your online accounts.

1. GHunt

GHunt is a powerful OSINT tool that gathers information from Google accounts using just an email address. It can track:

Public reviews
Photos posted on Google Maps
Your Google Drive files (if shared publicly)
YouTube channels and comments linked to your account

GHunt gives you a clear view of how much public data you’re exposing through your Google account, including reviews and other activities.

GitHub: GHunt

2. Epieos

Epieos is an online tool that allows you to perform OSINT on email addresses. It scans Google-related data and provides information like:

Associated reviews and ratings
Profiles on Google services
Photos or posts linked to the email

By using Epieos, you can see exactly what’s visible to the public when someone has access to your email.

Website: Epieos

3. Sherlock

Sherlock is a tool that hunts down usernames across various platforms, including social media and review sites. If your Google username is similar to usernames on other platforms, it could help you find and assess your online presence.

GitHub: Sherlock

4. SocialScan

SocialScan checks the availability of usernames and email addresses on multiple websites. It can help you understand how widely spread your email or username is across the web.

GitHub: SocialScan

5. WhatsMyName

This tool lets you search for a username on a variety of platforms, similar to Sherlock. It’s useful if you want to check if your Google username (or variations) appears across multiple services.

GitHub: WhatsMyName

6. Holehe

Holehe searches for accounts linked to a specific email address across multiple platforms, providing a comprehensive view of how your email is used online.

GitHub: Holehe

How to Check What Information You’re Exposing

Using the tools mentioned above, you can get a detailed view of how much personal data you’re inadvertently sharing. Here are some practical steps you can take to review your privacy exposure:

Google Yourself: Start with a simple Google search of your name, email address, or username. Look for reviews, accounts, or public profiles that show up.
Use OSINT Tools: Run your email and usernames through tools like GHunt, Epieos, and Sherlock to see what public information is linked to your accounts.
Check Your Google Account Settings: Visit your Google account settings and check what data is publicly visible. Make sure to review your location history, activity data, and visibility of reviews.
Review Your Social Media Privacy Settings: Make sure your social media profiles are set to private, or limit who can see your activities.

How to Delete Public Data

If you find that you’re exposing too much personal data, here are some steps you can take to remove or limit access to that information:

Delete Reviews on Google Maps:

Go to Google Maps, click on your profile, and select “Your contributions.”
Review the list of reviews you’ve posted and delete any that are too personal or reveal too much about your routine or location.

Remove Personal Data from Google:

Visit your Google account settings and go to the “Data & Personalization” section.
You can request Google to remove certain personal information that’s publicly accessible, such as reviews, photos, or posts.

Clear Location History:

In your Google account, go to “Activity Controls” and disable location history.
You can also delete your past location history entirely.

Request Data Removal from Third-Party Sites:

If your reviews or information are visible on third-party sites (like Yelp or TripAdvisor), you may need to contact those platforms directly to request removal.

Conclusion: Be Mindful of Your Digital Footprint

Leaving reviews is a helpful way to share your experiences with others, but it comes with potential privacy risks. By being mindful of how much personal information you’re sharing, using pseudonyms or anonymous accounts, and taking advantage of privacy tools, you can still contribute to