Privacy Issues

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

Google has a new feature that lets you type in a phone number and area code and it will display a name and address complete with links to maps right to your home. If you have family ( IE kids) who may give out a phone # anyone may obtain a map straight to YOUR house !! Really scarey stuff......As if we parents don't have enough on our minds already !! Here's more info and directions on how to opt your number out of their database.............TOM
Google has implemented a new feature wherein you can type someone's telephone number into the search
bar and hit enter and then you will be given a map to their house.

Before forwarding this, I tested it by typing my telephone number in google.com. My phone number came up, and when I clicked on the MapQuest link, it actually mapped out where I live. Quite scary. Please look up
your own number. Read below for details.

Think about it--if a child, single person, ANYONE gives out his/her phone number, someone can actually now look it up to find out where he/she lives.

It's just another privacy issue I have a problem with.

To test whether your phone number is mapped, go to: Google <http://www.google.com/>

Type your phone number in the search bar with or without dashes (i.e., 555-555-1212 or 5555551212) and hit enter.

If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your private information, simply click on the telephone icon next to your phone number. I removed my name, but it takes 48-hours. If you are unlisted in the phone book, you might not be in there, but it is a good idea just to check.

Please forward this information on to friends and family that would like to remove this
information from Google

 

[F350Lawman]

They have had this in print form for MANY years, it is called the Coles directory. Real estates and door to door salespeople have used it for years. It lists every listed phone number and gives the accompanying address. I used it hundreds of times as a realtor many years ago.

Now you can buy the directory for the ENTIRE nation on several CDs at any good software store. Who knows you might even find it in a GOOD library.

This has always been out there and someone with ill intentions could have used it, the internet just has made more people aware. The bad guys have alwaysy been able to get addresses from LISTED phone numbers.

 

[OkeeDon]

It's actually a pretty neat feature for beneficial use. When I see classified ads for something I'd just like to get a look at before I bother the owner, I type in the phone number, get an address, and drive by to see the trailer, truck, boat or whatever I'm interested in.

I rarely use my home phone any longer, and probably won't even have a land line when I move to our new place. My cell phone doesn't show up in Google.

 

[MikePA]

A Reverse Lookup directory has been available at AnyWho.com for several years.

 

[thcri]

The reverse look up has been available for many years. Fifteen years ago we purchased a book from Coles for any city we wanted. Today we can go to MSN and many other places to get this information. Some states even have license plates on the web. The internet is becoming a scarey thing and I really wonder how much we are being watched with what we do?

murph

 

[chim]

I remember a while back (mebbe pre-Y2K?) a poster said how he was out in the boonies and not worried about anyone finding him. His "handle" looked like a slight mod of his real name - not a common name either. I went to one of those sites and sent him a message that asked him how things were along a certain road, and mentioned that he lived within a hundred yards or so of a certain creek. He was quite surprised, and I got a chuckle out of it. He was halfway across the country from me but still at my fingertips. Some of these sites have sat-photos with pretty good detail. On the pic of my place, you can make out our propane tank...............chim

 

[wroughtn_harv]

There just might be an upside to this no privacy thing.

People might start acting better knowing they're not invisible.

Some of us remember growing up in a close neighborhood or a small town. If you did something wrong word of it beat you home. We were good, had to be. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

One of the cardinal rules of progress is the predators are usually there in the forefront. Another is we're always one step behind. But the good one is, we outnumber them. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[MossRoad]

<font color="blue"> Please forward this information on to friends and family that would like to remove this information from Google </font>

Google is a late comer to this and only one source of many where personal information can be obtained. If someone wants to find out about someone they usually can.

I have seen books for our county that cross list people by three different ways...

Phone number shows name and address.
Address shows name and phone number.
Name shows address and phone number.

It also lists their place of employment and sometimes their job title.

I used these books to do research on my family. It shows where my grandpa lived when he was 19 years old. He was born on 1888, so that book was available in 1907! A few years later, my grandma's name showed up along his, so I figure that's about when they got married. I followed them to several houses around the area over the years until they got to an address that my dad told me where he was born. It goes on and on. Kind of interesting. So, you can see that this type of information has been around for 100 years or more, however, few people knew it existed. It is just that the Internet makes it easier to access for everyone.

Of course, all this information is only accurate for people that live at the same address each year, don't change their phone number often, have a listed phone number, and/or pay taxes.

As always, it is important to talk to your children about keeping personal information personal.

Go to your local library and look for the Polk Directory. Very interesting stuff.

 

[centex]

It is hard for me to see how finding one's address has anything to do with privacy. After all most people's address is in the phone book and lots of other public records.

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

I was aware that the means to do this was already available.............But it just seemed that it's getting way too easy.................Maybe I'm just too parinoid...............TOM