ALERT! Google can list your name, address & map via phone #

Hmh. As far as I know, some online maps did so since some time - you even can see the house, when there is an aerial photo avalable.

Yeah, you can already view an areal photo of most people's houses online.

BBB,

Google is just adding phone and map data that is already on the internet to its search database.

It never ceases to amaze me that people with publically listed info on the net act surprised. If they don't want it there don't put it there.

Google is a search engine that gives access to publically accessible data. If you want the info to be kept private then don't make it public.

Easy solution.

Now I wish there was an easy solution to get people to stop spreading overhyped emails to everyone they know.

The reason people choose to have their phone number listed is ... to have their phone information publicly listed.

Fifteen years ago, anyone could buy the national phone book on a CD-ROM and do any type of search based on name, address, phone number, town, etc. When google takes this best-selling CD-ROM and puts it online, then link over to mapquest.com, they haven't actually done anything new. Darn!

--- B U T ---

Beware when you move. If you file the "Change of Address" form with the post office, your magazines will automatically be forwarded to your new home. This is public data that businesses subscribe to, so the entire world suddenly knows your new address!

If you really want to peek at somebody, trying looking up their birthday and zipcode history at www.anybirthday.com and then their entire history of property ownership and court cases at www.knowx.com or www.ussearch.com

Or, most county civil courts have all their case data online now. Their property tax records too, with owners name, address, parcel number, and dollar value of the property. You can go to each county website and search in just a few minutes.

Also check the local newspapers online. Most have every article from the last few years instantly searchable -- birth announcements, sports team rosters and results, school science fairs, business statements, auction announcements, any newsworthy tidbit is right there.

I discovered my car mechanic has a history of customer lawsuits against him!

Also, that he incorporated three other businesses, two of which went bankrupt, that he was divorced last year and the wife (her name and age) was awarded $150,000, he has two kids (names and ages), but he still owns a $320,000 house at a specific address three towns away from his business. He was a Eucharist Minister at a particular church on Easter. Then a few months after his DUI, two banks sued him for non-payment of credit card loans. The local BMW Motorcycle Club welcomed him by publishing his name in their newsletter (posted to the web), right next to their calendar of rides for the next six months.

I did nothing special to get this data. All I started with was his first and last name, and didn't even pay the $49 for the professional credit report and full background check.

Isn't the internet FUN ? :-) It's got your number!



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PS -- The fire department website even posted 52 photos of a call they made to his place of business, with detailed description of how they fought the fire. Apparently, my mechanic set fire to the building and was never seen again. And look! My car! My poor car is in the third photo! It's on the internet!

PPS -- *This* is why identity fraud is the fastest growing crime in America. If my mechanic ever buys another home in the United States, he will have quite a few people knocking on his door as soon as the papers go through.

But with a new identity, possibly lifted straight from his business files ...

Thanks for the 411, everyone.

I some time ago removed myself from Google's database.

Code's information is mostly new to me...and fascinating.

PDiddie, How do you remove yourself from Google?

BBB

Germany has extremely strict privacy laws: the supreme court has acknowledged a right to "informational self-determination" and everyone storing personal data about others has to obtain consent from these persons, has to allow them access to their records, and can use the data only for the purpose they were originally collected for.
The federal government, all states, most counties and cities/towns have privacy ombudsmen or -women, who take citizen's complaints and make sure that the privacy laws are enforced and extended where appropriate. We Germans value our privacy highly and essentially everybody agrees with these laws.

Instructions are at the very end of Bumble's post above.

(edited for clarity's sake)

I checked my phone number. The "subscriber" was correct, but I live on a Rural Route. Google listed an obsolete route number AND confessed that it was impossible to spot my house.

You can also be listed in the Yahoo Directory, even if you have an unlisted phone number. Yahoo also publishes your age and it also gives a stranger an opportunity to find out other relevant information about you.
By searching Yahoo, I actually found out that a friend of mine had prostate cancer.

Giving such data of me to the public (when I disapproved it) could give someone a nice time: up to 3 years in prison (up to 5 years for civil servants etc).