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Whitepages.com is terrifying
- Thread starter Kabuto
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NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
Damn, people are way too paranoid these days.
Besides, more detailed info is easy to come by if someone wants to pay.
I mean, do you ever get junk mail OP? People have your name and address.. soooo scary right?
What's creepy about it? It's just public records.
This is how people used to find people to contact them.
Besides, more detailed info is easy to come by if someone wants to pay.
I mean, do you ever get junk mail OP? People have your name and address.. soooo scary right?
What's creepy about it? It's just public records.
This is how people used to find people to contact them.
The website gives more info then the book. It gives a age range and multiple addresses. I've never had a land line yet it shows the 4 addresses I've lived at across 2 states in the last decade.
You could easily opt out of the white pages books while now it doesn't seem you have an option.
You could easily opt out of the white pages books while now it doesn't seem you have an option.
Uh, I have news for you. Its insanely easy to track any honest normal American. Your license plate? Easily looked up on publicdata.org to get the current owner registration which includes address. Same with drivers license. Ever been married or been arrested? All of this is public information. I once found my bosses marriage license, because my wife didn't believe me on how old she was, a quick google search turned it up and I wasn't even looking for it.
I used my white pages all the time. It didn't tell you where you lived around 25-30 years ago lol.
Rhomega Beta
Member
I found myself and my mom, but the address is the one before the one we live in now. My dad and brother are nowhere to be found.
Veritigo_X
Member
So you didn't have phone books growing up or are you just that young?
entremet
Member
How are you not aware of this?
Before the internet these were big books. And many things are public record.
You can find tons of stuff about people quickly if you wanted to.
How do you think reporters find out crap about political candidates? Taxes, mortgages, etc. All public record.
Before the internet these were big books. And many things are public record.
You can find tons of stuff about people quickly if you wanted to.
How do you think reporters find out crap about political candidates? Taxes, mortgages, etc. All public record.
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
We have yellow pages too in the US. White = residential and Yellow = BusinessIs this only working in the US?
Edit: Yes it is. Here is a similar thing for germany. Its called yellow pages
http://www.gelbeseiten.de
And yes, you're paranoid as fuck OP. Phonebooks have existed since the 1800s...
Do kids really not know what phone books are anymore? Damn, I feel old.
This. If you think white pages is bad, spokeo will terrify you. And there's other sites even more detailed if you pay.
And paper white pages have existed forever. And you can still call the operator and ask the same details I think.
Revolutionary
Member
They don't have white pages where you are?
I mean, no one picks them up anymore (so much so that my dog thought they were a perfect spot to pee on), but I thought everyone has at least heard of them.
I mean, no one picks them up anymore (so much so that my dog thought they were a perfect spot to pee on), but I thought everyone has at least heard of them.
ReturnOfTheRAT
Member
Radaris.com is the one to watch out for.
NervousXtian
Thought Emoji Movie was good. Take that as you will.
HOW EVER IS SHE NOT DEAD!?!?!?! YEARS YEARS OF PEOPLE KNOWING!!!
Seriously, yeah, the phone book. Chalk that up to things my kids have no clue about.. never thought to think the white pages as a hard copy is pretty much irrelevant these days.
The Albatross
Member
Today I learned that there are people on GAF who have never heard of a phone book, and have no idea that everybody's number and address used to be accessible to everybody else in your city.
Before the internet, there were these things called phone books, they had Yellow pages and White pages. White pages were a public directory of every person that had a phone number in your city, which at the time, was pretty much everybody. They got this information usually from local records and organized it by name. When you wanted your friend's number, you opened this book, flipped through the pages until you found their parents name and address, and you dialed in the number... a 7 or 10 digit number (or 4 digit if you're old school), and it rang an actual phone in that person's house.
This was offered as a free service from your telecom company, funded by another section of the phone book called the Yellow Pages. Yellow Pages were a business directory where business paid to have their business listed by category and often times with an advertisement. Yelp, Google Local, or other services are the contemporary equivalent of Yellow Pages. There really is no contemporary equivalent of the White pages.
Before the internet, there were these things called phone books, they had Yellow pages and White pages. White pages were a public directory of every person that had a phone number in your city, which at the time, was pretty much everybody. They got this information usually from local records and organized it by name. When you wanted your friend's number, you opened this book, flipped through the pages until you found their parents name and address, and you dialed in the number... a 7 or 10 digit number (or 4 digit if you're old school), and it rang an actual phone in that person's house.
This was offered as a free service from your telecom company, funded by another section of the phone book called the Yellow Pages. Yellow Pages were a business directory where business paid to have their business listed by category and often times with an advertisement. Yelp, Google Local, or other services are the contemporary equivalent of Yellow Pages. There really is no contemporary equivalent of the White pages.
styl3s
Member
Even if you delete it from whitepages there are countless sites where with limited knowledge of someone (IE first/last name and city) you can find all previous addresses and current address. Isn't this stuff just public information?
outunderthestars
Banned
entremet
Member
And?
Most people don't care and are living their lives. Not to say there aren't crazy folks out there, but that's statistically a very tiny cohort.
Identity theft is actually a bigger concern.
Mammoth Jones
Member
I mean, I'm well aware of phone books. But people trying to say "Meh, it's the same thing" are missing the point that in this modern age where everything is so much easily collated and retrieved perhaps we should in the name of personal privacy revisit our notions of having everyone's personal information readily available.
I think it's more of the Facebook generation that's overly comfortable sharing their personal information with the "I have nothing to hide" attitude.
Like I said shit like this a stalkers wet dream. I shouldn't have to contact each and every website that specializes in taking this from the public record and putting it online and requesting they stop then proving I am who I say I am as they do everything to make the process so slow to discourage people doing it. It shouldn't be public information to begin with. Not anymore.
Just cause "That's how we've always done it" is a shitty defense.
Most people don't know. I'd argue if you show most people you can find their name, address, phone number, sibling, children and parents names they'd have a problem and would want the information unlisted.
Which is the way it should be by default.
Version 3.0
Member
Geez, how paranoid can you get? It's an address. That's not sensitive information. What, are you afraid you might get mail?
Stalkers don't have to find an address online. They don't stalk random strangers. They stalk people they already know, and know how to find.
I doubt it, unless people's attitudes have changed dramatically in the last decade or so. Delisting has always been an option, and very, very few people took advantage of it.
Stalkers don't have to find an address online. They don't stalk random strangers. They stalk people they already know, and know how to find.
I doubt it, unless people's attitudes have changed dramatically in the last decade or so. Delisting has always been an option, and very, very few people took advantage of it.
Mammoth Jones
Member
I'm not saying "That's dangerous because a random person might stalk me! OMG!" I'm saying "Our attitudes regarding personal privacy should be updated by having an opt-in system rather than an opt-out system." That's not paranoia. That's someone who would prefer not to have their information publicly accessible by default.
Only people who don't give a shit about privacy because "Well the odds are low so who cares!"
Delisting is a pain in the ass because you have to deal with multiple companies that list your information. It's a real discouragement to get done. Not to mention having to research HOW to get it done to begin with. For example I shouldn't have to make an account with whitepages.com to get my shit off of whitepages.com. And even then there's spokeo, instantcheckmate, ...etc.
A better policy would be to have an opt-in system. Why is that something you'd be opposed to?
Version 3.0
Member
Because it would be impossible to enforce without a massive overhaul of every information handling system in the country. Because like I said, this isn't sensitive information. This is information you give out every time you buy something online, every time you ask for something to be mailed to you. It's on all your credit cards, all your bills. It's on nearly every document or form you fill out for any reason. And none of those entities are treating it as sensitive. It's not handled like a credit card or social security number. Asking them to do so would require years of effort, billions of dollars, and would still probably fail.
Honestly, this very basic information is probably impossible to keep private, but if you want to limit its availability, that's better handled on an exception basis.
davepoobond
you can't put a price on sparks
This is why you shouldn't own a house and have everything sent to a PO box. Also, always have burner cell phones.
True safety
True safety
BreezyLimbo
Banned
I don't exist
haha
haha
BetterThanNothing
Member
Yaphett Kotto
Member
How old is OP. Goddamn.
Incorrect.
It's called Facebook.
If you are looking for someone, you can find them on Facebook 95% of the time.
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