Google info
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive March 2004:
Google info
I checked the hoax sites and it's not listed. I also did the google search and our phone number and map popped up...pretty scary! Thought I would pass this info on.
10-Digit Web Search Locates Listed Phone Numbers
Results Reveal Name Of Number Owner, Directions To Home
POSTED: 10:56 am CST March 22, 2004
UPDATED: 11:15 am CST March 22, 2004
ARLINGTON, Va. -- One search engine's telephone number database could provide Web surfers a person's name, address and directions to their front door by performing a one-click search on a listed 10-digit phone number.
Nikki, an Internet savvy 15-year-old girl, said this is common knowledge among teens everywhere.
But, do adults know it?
Nikki's father Scott said he received an e-mail telling him to type his daughter's personal telephone number into the Google search engine on the Internet.
" I punched in her telephone number and lo-and-behold there's her name, her address, and a map to the house. If she's at the retailers, she's paying for something, and they ask her for her telephone number, some guy standing next to her now knows who she is and where she lives," Scott said.
NBC News reporter Liz Crenshaw set up an experiment in front of a Starbucks Coffee at Ballston Common Mall in Arlington, Va. She asked passers-by if she could perform an Internet search on their home phone number.
To validate that Crenshaw did not know the people asked to participate, she asked is she knew them or where they lived before inputting their phone number into the search engine.
"(Are you) Kitty? Is that you (referring to search results)?" Crenshaw asked a willing participant.
"It is," the participant responded.
"Is that directions to where you live?" Crenshaw asked.
"Yes, that's exactly where I live," the participant answered.
"When you give somebody a phone number, do you suspect they know how to get to your house?" Crenshaw questioned the participant.
"No," the participant responded.
"And you give your phone number to a lot of people. Do you want to get (your name removed from the results)?" Crenshaw asked.
"Yeah. How would I?" the participant asked.
Fortunately, it is easy to remove your phone number from search results.
Log on to Google and type your phone number into the search box and press enter. The next page will show who the number is registered to with a telephone icon next to it. Click on the telephone icon to go to the page that will remove your number from the Google PhoneBook.
According to the Google Web site, the process to remove a listing from the database takes 48 hours.
Electronic Privacy Information Center spokesman Chris Hoofnagle said people need to think more about electronic privacy.
"The general way to protect privacy in the consumer marketplace is to limit disclosure of your personal information, to find anyway to not give out personal information. Because once you give out that information, it's very hard to rein it back in," Hoofnagle said.
I heard about this once before and tried it... it's very frightenly true. I didn't know you could remove your name from the search engine, though. Good information.
I also remember years ago I worked for a retail office supply store and they had some books where you could look up an address and it would list the name of the people living there, as well as how many people lived there. Strange to think you could drive down the street, pick an address, and perhaps have access to that kind of information. I don't remember what kind of book it was...some kind of marketing tool, I think. That was before Internet.
That's called a Reverse Directory. Many cold callers for various businesses use it (ie investment)
I use this all the time in my work as a legal assistant. It's quite useful.
The appraisal district web sites are interesting (frightening?), too. You can plug in an address and they give you all kinds of info and show you a picture of the house.
It is a reverse directory. Google, among others, does it. Plug in your phone number and follow the instructions for removing your number from their data base.
No big deal, imo. It is only "listed" phone numbers, as opposed to unlisted numbers. In the same way, if your phone number is listed, anyone can use the "white pages" feature on Netscape, Yahoo, or whatever, put in your name and town, and get your address and phone number.
I have an unlisted number, so it does not come up on Google. It also cuts way down on telemarketing calls! More than worth the few extra dollars a month, IMO.
ONE of the reasons why we have an unlisted number. Avoiding telemarketers is another. I agree with Happynerdmom, worth the $!
When cashiers in stores ask for my number I always tell them it's unlisted and have never had problems. It's probably a good idea for everyone to say that!
When cashiers in stores ask for my phone number I just say "no". I remember being asked by a clerk in RadioShack for my phone number, and he said he couldn't make the sale without the phone number. I said really - then I guess you won't make the sale. He rang it up.
LOL, Ginny! My Dad did the same thing in Radio Shack. 
LOL I've always been tempted, but never said no. I encounter it at Toys R Us and Radio Shack, but recently it happened at Bath & Body Works! I hate giving out my number.
I give them my work number or I make one up.
I don't see why they need a phone number. They just want it to tie in with other information, like maybe your credit card info giving your name and address. I just don't give it.
And, if for some reason someone needs your Social Security number, often they only need the last four digits.
One of my doctors' offices keeps records under SS number, and I hate it. I have complained bitterly.
I thought under HIPAA SS#'s couldn't be used as a reference or an account number.
I don't know - I'll check that. Thanks.
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