castledoom.com

[JuntaJoe]

I just found a very scary website.

http://www.zabasearch.com/

When I entered my name, it listed my name, current address, phone number, and birthdate for free! :shock:

For $22.95 they offered to run a full background search including credit and criminal records. :(

I've been very careful over the years with my personal info. To little avail, obviously.

These guys scan everything. Phone books, back-check directories, credit reporting companies, state/municipal databases, utility company records, advertising mailing lists, you name it.

Anyone could have pulled up my basic info for free and anonymously.

What to do?

http://www.zabasearch.com/thankyou.php

They end up getting your email as well, but they will hide your data.

I'm about to start the process on the last link and will keep you updated on how it goes.

[JuntaJoe]

Ok, forget using that second link.

Here's what the email response was:


We received your request. The following is the fastest way to create, edit or delete
your records in ZabaSearch. ZabaTools allow you to take control of the information
available about you or to manage how you allow others to communicate with you.
You can create, edit, delete your record or add a ZabaLink all for free.

Why create a record? If you don't exist in ZabaSearch and would like to be included.

Why edit a record? If you are in ZabaSearch, but would like to update your information.
Or, add your e-mail address or your web site URL to your record.

Why delete a record?** If you want to remove your address and/or telephone number

Add a free ZabaLink! Instead of deleting a record, consider replacing your address
and/or telephone number with a ZabaLink*.

**If someone finds and clicks your ZabaLink (placed where your address or telephone
number was), they will come to an e-mail form that will allow them to send a message
to you without knowing your e-mail address, where you are, or if you ever even received
the message. You can either respond, ignore, or send back a non-delivery notice.
ZabaLinks empower you to control how people can communicate with you on the Internet.
You can be found, only if you want to be on a person by person basis. And, ZabaLinks
are free!

In order to create, edit, delete your record and/or to add a ZabaLink, all for free,
you must make that request in writing and mail it to: ZabaTools, PO Box 45210 Omaha,
NE 68145. Receiving requests by mail allows us to verify and process requests quickly.
Records created, edited and ZabaLinks added may take up to several weeks to appear
in ZabaSearch. Records requested to be deleted are typically processed the next
business day after receiving the request. You will be notified by e-mail when you
request enters our system and then once more when the requested records have been
adjusted. Please specify if you want to create, edit, delete a record and/or add
a free ZabaLink, e-mail address or url to your record. If you add a free ZabaLink,
please include the e-mail address where you would like messages blindly forwarded
to from your ZabaLink.

In order to fill your request your letter must contain the following information
to insure we create, edit or delete the correct records. After you confirm by e-mail
that we processed your request, your letter and the information you provided in
it will be shredded. You will have created a record for yourself just as you like
it and will be eventually given online tools to adjust your information as you like
live in ZabaSearch 24/7.

1. E-mail address
2. Full name including middle initial
3. Address of the record you wish to create, edit or delete
4. Phone number you wish to have removed
5. Year of birth.
6. Specify if you are requesting to create, edit or delete a record or if you want
to add a ZabaLink or URL to your
record.
7. Sign and date your request

[Brf]

I have seen those sites before. Some of them only charge $10. All the info is public.... Mine doesnt show my phone number, since it is unlisted.

[JuntaJoe]

I'm told that getting a POBox is also wise. You can drop them a note to update their info and have it be useful rather than scary.

Tell them to hide the age, mark the phone as unlisted after you change it, and have a public POBox listed on their site.

Then you only have your name and POBox listed on their site.

Advertisers will usually won't bother flooding a POBox with ads and the creepy types will find watching your Post Office a hassle when the Postal Inspecters keep slapping them with federal convictions.

[CooJoe]

I looked up my mom's name to find my address, and phone number.

This is a stalker's dream come true.

[s_stabeler]

and all on the public record, remember, so you have to think what the US government are doing allowing so much information to be freely availible.

[skeeber]

It doesn't have me by my birth name, but when I entered my nickname, it pulled up my old address in Omaha with phone number. Has to be from the phone book.

The internet can be a very scary place if one is not careful.

[s_stabeler]

it kind of makes me glad that it doesn't cover the UK. And it can't eoitherr, due to the data protection act, which makes these things opt-in mostly, as they have to ask permission first. maybe that would be an idea that the US ought to copy?

[JuntaJoe]

That's how it works in Europe. Data sharing is opt-in.

In America, it is opt-out. Worse is that when you opt-out you confirm your existence by default and they can resell that knowlege to others or simply re-use that knowlege to have a sister company target you. And while the government here mandates opt-out instructions for every ad mail, they totally ignore the problem that opting-out causes.

Yep, there needs to be a better law on this.

[skeeber]

It seems that the only laws that get passed are only to quell the masses so to speak. Our lawmakers don't actually attack the problem and make legislation to fix it.

sad.... :evil:

[JuntaJoe]

I sometimes wonder if those geezers even know what they did with that opt-out legistlation. :?

We need a national no-spam like the phones have.

And we need ISP's to make a simple control to block selected country IP codes.

I know there is a freeware program out there to block Russian and Nigerian codes, but I lost the link when I reformatted my drive a few weeks ago.

[s_stabeler]

the thig is, they looked aty a do-not-spam list and decided that it would be used as a list of people to spam, not as one not to spam, by these people, so they thought it would be a bad idea.

[JuntaJoe]

Everyone wails they see no way out through legistlation and pray for a technology fix.

But did anyone note a small story last month on the Bush Administration changing its mind on permitting Europe, Japan, and Korea begin to build big domain servers and main router infrastructure? You might know it as the stuff Cisco builds and runs. And we keep it all here in America under tight corporate security.

Take America off the internet and you essentially have no internet.

Sure, the rest of the world could probably patch something fragile together pretty fast, but all the main hubs and controls are here. It would be a long climb and massive expenditure to rebuild the world internet infrastructure back to its current level.

All "roads" come through here.

America has the tools, technology, and controls to implement some solid blocks on global spammers. Only the companies actually in America would have a lot of alternate options. And we can put them under new laws.

Spam in America and the government body slams you. Spam outside America and we flip the switch that leaves you staring at a blank screen.

It can be done. All it takes is some political will and some tech savvy in the halls of government.

[Brf]

Several of the root-servers are in foreign countries. If the US were taken off-line, these servers would keep the Internet going.

http://www.root-servers.org/

[broomdalf]

Wow, I was totally unaware that my father's middle name, "Lynn", started with an "R".

This is still all kind of scary though.

[JuntaJoe]

Brf wrote: Several of the root-servers are in foreign countries. If the US were taken off-line, these servers would keep the Internet going.

Barely.