Reverse Phone Number Lookup Alert!

[IdahoOrchid]

I got the following email from a friend. At first I thought, "Here we go again, another overstated and unfounded rumor." So I went to Google (which I RARELY do, I hate that place) and tried it. It did find me. Since we refuse to publish our address in the phone book it could not directly locate us, but it did know what city we were in.

This used to be a great thing. I remember calling Directory Service many times to get an address of someone I needed to locate. Today, although the chances are still fairly small, there is a chance of bad things happening. Still, I could see this possibly being used for criminal and more likely commercial purposes.

I don't have time to verify it right now, but somewhere in my head I remember being able to use an email address to at least partially identify a person.

Like I said, I was not able to specifically find myself on the map. I would HIGHLY recommend anyone that has concerns about this to have their phone service remove the address from publication.

I am not sure exactly what the next step would be, but I should not have to spend my time removing my contact information form SEVERAL of this type of service. Maybe I am wrong about this, since phone book information is public, but I feel it should be a voluntary thing.

Google has implemented a new feature which enables you to type a telephone number into the search bar, hit enter, and you will be given the person's name and address. If you then hit MapQuest, you will get a map to the person's house.

Everyone should be aware of this! It's a nationwide reverse telephone book. If a child gives out his/her phone number, someone can now look it up to find out where he/she lives. The safety issues are obvious, and alarming. Note that you can have your phone number removed or blocked. I tried my number, and it did come up, I clicked map and Mapquest gave directions directly to the house. Quite scary.

Please look up your own number. In order to test whether your phone number is mapped, go to: Google Type your phone number in the search bar (i.e. 555-555-1212) and hit enter.

If you want to B L O C K Google from divulging your private information, simply click on your telephone number and then click on the Removal Form. Removal takes 48 hours. Please share this information with friends and family.