Nationwide Reverse Phone Book
(August 17, 2007) Art Koff,
founder of RetiredBrains
(here's a
great oldie from Kevin Wheeler) sent us a note back in June. He was
fussed up about the privacy implications of Googles phone lookup
service. Typing a phone number into the Google search bar gets you, if
you're lucky, the name and address of the phone number's owner. An
additional click gets you a map right to their house.
It doesn't work for cell phones or for
accounts that are not listed in the white pages. It does work for most
businesses.
Ten years ago, this would have been a
moment to celebrate for most recruiters. A free, easily available
reverse lookup directory would have been the perfect tool for any
recruiter's arsenal. Today, however, it's a yawn. Most people who are
the targets of recruiters use cell phones and barely check their
landline messages (if they even have a land line).
That means that the names, addresses and
maps available through Google's reverse lookup service are going to be
old and/or poor. Lookup your parents phone number. Notice that those
nice people at Google will give a map to their house to anyone who can
copy down the phone number.
It's one thing to
pay lots of college kids to get business information, it's another
thing entirely to make the vulnerable even more vulnerable. Take a
moment to use the "remove this number" link on behalf of your parents.
John Sumser © TwoColorHat. All Rights Reserved.
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