Keeping your layover private: location and social media

How crew keep a layover private: when to post, location tags, photo location data, uniform photos and live location sharing, and what On Chocks does.

You can share a good layover without telling the internet where you are sleeping. A few settings and habits keep your room, your plans and your employer out of public view.

Post after you leave

Smartraveller, the Australian government's travel advice site, tells travellers to wait until they have left an area to post holiday snaps. It also says that a public post can be used to track where you are, down to your accommodation. Post the dinner photo from the next airport.

Keep two things out of any post:

Your room, your door, the view from your window and anything with the property's name on it, such as a key card or a room-service tray.
Your boarding pass and other tickets.

Smartraveller also warns against hanging towels or clothes on a balcony rail, because people can use them to work out which room is yours.

Turn off location tags

Your iPhone can add the location to a photo only when the Camera app has access to Location Services. To cut that off, open Settings, Privacy & Security, Location Services, Camera, and tap Never. To send a photo you already took without its location, tap Share, then Options, and turn off Location. Apple's screen then reads Location Not Included.

Social apps add their own place tags, so leave the location field empty when you post.

Uniform photos and company policy

A photo in uniform tells a stranger who you work for. Read your company's social media policy before you post one. It may cover uniforms, aircraft and pictures of colleagues.

Local law counts too. Smartraveller says travellers in Thailand have been arrested for things they said on social media, including negative reviews. In the UAE it is illegal to post photos of people without their consent, including people in the background. Lock down your profiles so only friends can see them, and stay away from comments on local politics.

Share live location only with people you choose

Share My Location in Find My lets you pick one person and a length of time. Open Find My, tap People, choose Share My Location, add the person and set how long. You can stop sharing with one person from their name in People, or turn off Share My Location under Me to hide from everyone.

Pick a crew mate or a family member. A group chat or a public story is a wider audience than you meant, and Smartraveller's advice is to guard the details of your travel plans. Our guide to safety tips for solo female crew covers telling a crew mate your plan.

What On Chocks does

On Chocks removes the location data and other hidden details from each photo crew upload before anyone else can see it. It does not show where anyone is staying, and the app refuses hotels as spots. Other crew see your nickname, your role and the quarter of the year you posted. The app keeps your airline private.

You still choose what you post anywhere else, so the habits above apply. For something to do near you, On Chocks lists the spots other crew recommend and shows which are open now.