want to point out that there are many other ways for anyone to get personal info about you. Google is just another one. Ever been to http://www.zabasearch.com/? There you can type in your name and see names of all your family, and addresses anyone in your family has ever lived in as well as ages / birthdates. Luckily, there system is not 100% accurate so for example, it listed my Grandmother at my address, or my brother with my Dads birthdate.

Not only are there free services like these, but there are paid services that offer a lot more info about people. Also, there are a lot of tools designed for Real Estate agents out there that are surprising. I found one that provided several pictures of my house! Just type in a persons name and find out way too much about them and where they live.

This google stuff does't really change how easy it is for people to find people. Taking your self off their list isn't going to protect your info.

Keep in mind that as time goes on, there will be less privacy rather than more, as technology involves documenting everything and having everything in a database that can be queried at any time. I should know, working as a programmer I've seen my fair share of people's personal data regarding everything from bank accounts, debit transactions, SSN, property info, political info, school info, vehicle registration info, and so on. Luckily for all those people, I am responsible and handled their data appropriately.

What is more alarming is the RFID technology that is in the works for human implants. It is simliar to what they do to animals on the Discovery channel. It is not a sci-fi future idea, but has already been started by convincing parents that they should do it to keep their kids 'safe'. What a clever way to get people to not only stop resisting it but to want it and pay for it. How ironic. Same goes for cell phones, GPS, automatic toll paying transponders etc...Monitoring devices that you think people would object to but they are marketed in a way that makes people want to pay money to get them. When you buy a cellphone or GPS device the sales pitch never involves telling you how great it will be for law enforecement to track you down whenever they want from the signal from your phone do they? Its all in the presentation I guess.

Treat life like a new job. You know when you get a job and they say there is no assumption of privacy while at your job in terms of computer usage and phone usage? That is the same reality for our everyday life.

Great topic by the way, thanks for opening it up!

Dave C.
R-6666