Web site for finding people

[Wise Young]

Amazing http://www.zabasearch.com/

I was just thinking that the best way to have anonymity in this internet world is to have a name that is so common that everybody has it. Then nobody can or will remember you and all search services give up because there are a million of you.

[SoFla]

I entered my name with no middle initial. I have two different ones. One given at birth and one given by the state of Florida. I was shocked to see me listed several times with both initials! Yikes!

Too many of me when I entered my maiden name. Shoulda kept it.

[Max]

Amazing http://www.zabasearch.com/

I was just thinking that the best way to have anonymity in this internet world is to have a name that is so common that everybody has it. Then nobody can or will remember you and all search services give up because there are a million of you.

Thanks Wise;)

Found couple folks who owe me some $ from Soviet time:D

Wish it would include not only 50 states of US of A

[Wise Young]

Max, glad that you found buddies that owe you $. They can run but they can hide from you now. :)

Sofla, it is shocking how much information is available on everybody on internet. This is the public domain stuff. Can you imagine the information that the FBI has on us? I don't think that you can use a credit card in this country or take a book out of the library without that information being recorded somewhere. They know what you have bought, what you returned, where you travel, who you call, and even what you eat. They know where you live, your children, and all your previous marriages.

I have been thinking of joining this web site and doing a confidential search on myself to find out what information is out there and whether it is accurate or not. The only thing holding me back is that I know that they will then have a dossier on me based on my own search on myself, since I would know what to search for. Who knows who they give that to... Probably they sell it to the highest bidder.

By the way, the answer is not to withdraw from the internet. The answer is to know what is known and what is not. You can protect what is not known. As I pointed out, perhaps the best protection is using a very common name. If, as you say, your maiden name is very popular, perhaps you should switch back. Then your personal details will be mixed with hundreds or perhaps thousands of people with the same name. I am very envious of John Smith. He can really be anonymous in this country. It is even better than John Doe.

Wise.

[SoFla]

About 15 years ago, a friend of mine made a gazzilion dollars by creating a company that put together a database using nothing but public information, and selling it back to government agencies. It was always available to the government, but was not used efficiently. He started all this. He is most likely the one who is responsible for my address, birth date, and phone number being readily available. Not that I have anything to hide, but it is still kind of creepy.

On the other hand, since I still have a contact at this company, I know which agency I will use when I need to find a caregiver for my elderly father when his companion goes on vacation.

And, no, this information is not sold to the highest bidder. Clients are carefully screened before personal information is released. That is why I know which agency I will choose. The agency needs to have a good clean record before it can investigate its home health care aides hires.

As creepy as it is, there is also a benefit.

[john smith]

I am very envious of John Smith.

Posted by Wise

LOL, I am also on many watch lists. Such as at the airport when checking in. Evidently, there are some very unimaginative bad guys out there. Lately, it has not been so bad. But there was about two years+ when the agent always took my driver's license and disappeared into the back room to do a security check. On the other hand, when I went to SF State, back in the day, there were nine John Smiths at school. And, I once had a girlfriend named Jon Smith. She came from a big Catholic family. I think they ran out of girl's names.

I usually use my middle initial.

John

[Wise Young]

LOL, I am also on many watch lists. Such as at the airport when checking in. Evidently, there are some very unimaginative bad guys out there. Lately, it has not been so bad. But there was about two years+ when the agent always took my driver's license and disappeared into the back room to do a security check. On the other hand, when I went to SF State, back in the day, there were nine John Smiths at school. And, I once had a girlfriend named Jon Smith. She came from a big Catholic family. I think they ran out of girl's names.

I usually use my middle initial.

John


Yikes, I didn't think of that. Having a name that is common means that you are on every no-fly list in the world. And you may be on a lot of hitlists and become a victim of mistakened identity.

I must say, having a girlfriend with the same name is a great way of starting conversations. You must have gotten some dropped jaws when you introduced her.

Wise.

[adi chicago]

thank you...i found my ex wife address ...we talk on the phone ,her brother is paralysed too...c5-c6.her husband have no ideea ....hehe:)

[GoTWHeeLs]

Adi, your sly. I cant find myself on this site, but I can on google.:thinking:

[adi chicago]

Adi, your sly. I cant find myself on this site, but I can on google.:thinking:
i am not sly, if you are a us citizen the site must work ...trust me.i found any info that i searched for...good luck my friend.

[GoTWHeeLs]

i found everyone in the state w/my last name, but no me. I'll try again...

[GoTWHeeLs]

Nope. I think google works because I have a website. The link wise is talking about goes by bills, never had to many of those in my name, so maybe thats why.

[Lizbv]

Dr. Wise, and Sir John Smith:

I posted this in another thread in response to PN, but I'm interested in knowing why some peoples information is readily available on these searches and others information is not. I have tested this search URL out as well, and found the same results.

Your "Wise" input is appriciated.
How do you hide your identity if you receive U.S. postal mail and are registered under an address of the U.S. Postal service, as these service engines revolve around this/and phone listings. Alas, John Smith, I know you are a postal God in real life. Perhaps you can chime in on this too!

[adi chicago]

Nope. I think google works because I have a website. The link wise is talking about goes by bills, never had to many of those in my name, so maybe thats why.
is very strange..i found my name and address and i was not borned in usa.
strange.......they must have a better way to find people .

[Wise Young]

thank you...i found my ex wife address ...we talk on the phone ,her brother is paralysed too...c5-c6.her husband have no ideea ....hehe:)

Whoa, your x's brother is C5/6. Is that what you mean about her husband having no ideea. You think that she has the SCI curse? Wise.

[Wise Young]

Dr. Wise, and Sir John Smith:

I posted this in another thread in response to PN, but I'm interested in knowing why some peoples information is readily available on these searches and others information is not. I have tested this search URL out as well, and found the same results.

Your "Wise" input is appriciated.
How do you hide your identity if you receive U.S. postal mail and are registered under an address of the U.S. Postal service, as these service engines revolve around this/and phone listings. Alas, John Smith, I know you are a postal God in real life. Perhaps you can chime in on this too!

Lizbv,

Here is an interview with the founder of Zabasearch.
Your Identity, Open to All
Xeni Jardin Email 05.06.05 | 2:00 AM

A search for personal data on ZabaSearch.com -- one of the most comprehensive personal-data search engines on the net -- tends to elicit one of two reactions from first-timers: terror or curiosity. Which reaction often depends on whether you are searching for someone else's data, or your own.

ZabaSearch queries return a wealth of info sometimes dating back more than 10 years: residential addresses, phone numbers both listed and unlisted, birth year, even satellite photos of people's homes.

ZabaSearch isn't the first or only such service online. Yahoo's free People Search, for example, returns names, telephone numbers and addresses. But the information is nothing more than what's been available for years in the White Pages.

Far more personal information is available from data brokers, including aliases, bankruptcy records and tax liens. That access typically requires a fee, however, which has always been a barrier to the casual snooper.

But ZabaSearch makes it easier than ever to find comprehensive personal information on anyone.

ZabaSearch may give away some data for free, but it charges for additional information -- like background checks and criminal history reports, which may or may not be accurate. The company also plans to sell ads and other services on the search site, much like Google or Yahoo.

Launched in February, the site has emerged during a period of heightened sensitivity about data privacy and identity theft, now among the fastest-growing crimes in America. Numerous security breaches involving personal records have occurred in recent months. Earlier this week, media giant Time Warner admitted it lost the social security numbers of 600,000 employees. Other incidents of bungling or virtual burglary have compromised hundreds of thousands of personal records held by ChoicePoint, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Lexis-Nexis, among others.

Critics say ZabaSearch is exploiting the lack of data privacy in America. We unknowingly leak personal information in countless ways, the argument goes, and neither the government nor private industry provides effective ways for us to control how our digital identities are shared or sold.

Plus, an odd, often-reported connection between the company's chairman and members of the Heaven's Gate suicide cult hasn't helped make the company's image any more friendly.

But the founders of ZabaSearch maintain they're not villains, and that their service is a step toward data democratization. If your information is already out there, the logic goes, at least now you'll know about it.

Wired News sat down with Robert Zakari, ZabaSearch president and general counsel, and chairman Nicholas Matzorkis, to talk about ZabaSearch.

Wired News: How much traffic is the site receiving?

Nicholas Matzorkis: We intend to release our beta site traffic levels at the time we announce the end of our beta phase in May. But leading up to April 2005, Yahoo People Search was the most-used free people-search directory on the internet since 1998, when Yahoo acquired four11.com. After eight weeks online, ZabaSearch.com beta is processing an estimated three times as many queries as Yahoo People Search on a daily basis.

WN: Who uses the site?

Robert Zakari: Over a third of our users are media, government and companies.

Matzorkis: Based on network domains in our server logs, government use is over 20 percent. Military is 12 to 13 percent. Department of Homeland Security is around 1 percent of the government portion. Media and news agencies, about 2 to 3 percent.

Everybody feels they have the right to use this kind of a search engine, but others should not. Law enforcement tells us they think it's a great tool but question whether others should have right to use it.

There should be laws passed to ensure that access is provided in a way that reflects the public's best interest. But that is not our job. We are not given (the) task of determining those guidelines. Our job is to operate in compliance with the law as it stands. And that is what we do.

WN: Where does the data on ZabaSearch come from?

Zakari: The public domain. Information collected by the government, and information that individuals put it out into the public domain. Court records, county records, state records, information that becomes publicly available after you buy a new house or go to the post office and file a change-of-address form.

Matzorkis: When you move and fill out a change form with the post office, they record date of move and new address, then sell that to info brokers on the open market. When you apply for a credit card, and you don't check the box saying you don't want your information shared, it will be sold.

Personal information in the U.S. is a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry. People realizing that right now as a result of stumbling on ZabaSearch may find that shocking, but the data has been out there for years. It's just a question of who has access. You, or the people selling it to other companies to market things to you?

<more>

Wise.

[stephen212]

Yikes, I didn't think of that. Having a name that is common means that you are on every no-fly list in the world. And you may be on a lot of hitlists and become a victim of mistakened identity.

Wise.

I believe that 60 Minutes did a piece on this very issue.

[adi chicago]

Whoa, your x's brother is C5/6. Is that what you mean about her husband having no ideea. You think that she has the SCI curse? Wise.
sir i had my injury back in 2002 ,my ex wife family enjoyed the news regarding my injury.....they said ....adi deserved his sci....after 2 years my ex brother in law broked his neck ....is funny because after they enjoyed , my ex mother in law [a certified nurse]is coming to my house and she helps me regarding iv,im antibiotics ,when i need ...no charge .
regarding curse i know that a scientist will never belive that could be possible ...my ex wife family cursed me and today they cry because of what they did...my ex wife is a us citizen because of ADI not because of the guy she was cheating on me ...a limo driver ...she thought that he was the owner of the company ....

[Wise Young]

http://www.zvents.com/

Incredible. It automatically fixes into your IP address and lists events, movies, venues, restaurants, and performers/performances in your area.

Wise.

[harley-lynn]

:zombie: I can't believe I found myself!...lol...wow I didn't know you could search for a person that easy...Only problem, stalkers and unwanted people can find you too...scarey...:zombie: