[IP] more on Google Phone Search sparks Privacy Concerns

[Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Title:   more on Google Phone Search sparks Privacy Concerns

------ Forwarded Message
From: Tom Goltz <tgoltz@QuietSoftware.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2003 09:46:25 -0500
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Google Phone Search sparks Privacy Concerns

At 04:39 PM 3/24/2003 -0500, Ted Dolotta wrote:
> The key word in the para above is "public."  What Google does is basically
> a look-up in a reverse (by number) white-pages directory, tells you what it
> found, and offers to show you a Yahoo map.  Except for the map, your phone
> company will do the same, but charge you for it ...
>
> If your number is unlisted, you get nothing back.  In my case, when I enter
> my number, I get "Ted Dolotta, Princeton, NJ 08540," which is correct, and
> is the info I'm happy to divulge.  If I ask for a map, I get a map of the area
> of Central New Jersey surrounding Princeton and centered on my ZIP code.

Their sole information source appears to be the printed white pages.  My phone is (and has been for years) unpublished.  In phone company jargon, this means that while I am not published in the printed white pages, my number is still available through directory assistance.  Google fails to turn up a formal phone listing when searching on my phone number.  Better yet, the telemarketers that call from the phone book don't know I exist.

You don't even have to pay the extra couple of dollars per month for the unpublished listing: Simply call your phone company's customer service number and request that they remove your address from your listing. They'll do this without charge.  A month or so after you call, call directory assistance and ask them for your own address.  If they give it to you, call customer service back and complain....they're notorious for "losing" the request, and it's annoying to wait until the next edition of the printed directory comes out to discover that your address is still listed.

I agree with Ted: There's nothing frightening here at all, but rather Google enhancing and extending their search services of public information.

If you feel that disclosing your home address is a serious matter, I recommend a trip to your nearest USPS office where for around $100/year you can rent a Post Office Box.  Use that as your phone company billing address, and make sure they use it for your directory listing as well.  Best of both worlds.  I've done this for years, and very, very few of the companies and people I do business with have any clue where I live.



Tom Goltz
(603) 594-9922
(603) 594-9939 (fax)

------ End of Forwarded Message