Sharing pictures of your special events, travels, and even mundane activities has become the norm. Have a great breakfast with a friend? Is it your kid’s first day of school? It’s become almost second nature for many to snap a picture and share on their favorite social media site.

There is cause for pause when posting those pictures too readily, at least without taking some precautions. A recent CNBC article shares how posting pictures can lead people to know when you’re not home, or in other cases, where you are traveling and what you are doing.

It may seem extreme, but it has become fairly easy for people to look at images on social media closely and, in a few clicks, figure out where you live, what hotel you are staying in, or where you are traveling.

How can you avoid this? Below are a few simple steps to protect your images on social media:

• Keep your privacy settings up to date – check all of your social sites and make sure your privacy settings are at the level you want them to be. In Facebook, for example, having more stringent settings and “only post to friends” will keep your images more private. Of course, that is if a friend whose posts are set to be viewed by the general public doesn’t share your images on their timeline.

• Check the social media apps –  when you set up a new app, it will disclose what phone features it will have access to. Disable the location and camera options so that the geotagging is not activated when posting pictures. This will make it more difficult for others to use tools to identify your location.

• Turn off your location services all together – at least if you’re not using valuable features like maps or “find my phone” services. It’s not a bad idea to turn off location services when you’re posting to social media if you’re not in need of them at that moment.

Just like social media site privacy settings, taking an extra moment to double check your phone and app settings is important. As social media content continues to be an every day part of life, there will be those individuals who will find ways to use it for unsavory purposes.