It’s the sort of photo you encounter every time you scroll casually through your Facebook or Instagram feed. Nestled among the inspirational memes, baby photos and avocado-on-toast snaps, it’s the image of someone’s boarding pass – often accompanied by a cheeky glass of airport lounge bubbly and an envy-inducing caption. But, jealousy aside, these photos have a potentially serious risk attached to them. The warning also applies to how we get rid of our boarding passes after we’ve taken our flight. If you just bin yours once done, you might want to reconsider that too. According to security website Krebs On Security, and as reported in The Independent, our boarding passes contain a lot of information about ourselves – and it’s all down to the bar codes. The blog explains, “Two-dimensional barcodes and QR codes can hold a great deal of information, and the codes printed on airline boarding passes may allow someone to discover more about you, your future travel plans, and your frequent flyer account.” While this scenario may seem far-fetched, one curious reader experimented to see how much and how easily this information can be decoded, by using a photo of his friend’s boarding pass. Worryingly, he found a site dedicated to this very thing, and gave a step-by-step guide of what he found. He was able to find out his friend’s name, frequent flyer number and access his Lufthansa account, which in turn granted him access to his friend’s phone number and details of any future flights. So next time you’re riding the wave of holiday excitement, stick to a tasteful beach selfie. And make sure you shred your boarding pass once you’re done with it.