Invasion of Privacy Google has implemented a new feature wherein you can type someone's telephone number into the search bar and hit enter and then you will be given a map to their house Before forwarding this, I tested it by typing my telephone number in google.com. My phone number came up, and when I clicked on the MapQuest link, it actually mapped out where I live. Quite scary. Please look up your own number. Read below for details. Think about it--if a child, single person, ANYONE gives out his/her phone number, someone can actually now look it up to find out where he/she lives. The safety issues are obvious, and alarming. This is not a hoax; MapQuest will put a star on your house on your street. In order to test whether your phone number is mapped, go to: www.google.com Type your phone number in the search bar with dashes (i.e. 555-555-1212) (dashes &no spaces very important) and hit enter. This will divulge your name and address. You will see a link option to the right for MapQuest (click on it), which will use the address to provide a map to your home or place of business. If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your private information, simply click on the telephone icon next to your phone number. Then read and click where it says click here. I removed my name, but it takes 48-hours. If you are unlisted in the phone book, you might not be in there, but it is a good idea just to check. Please forward on to friends and family

Thank you for this information. It also gave me a Yahoo! option in addition to the MapQuest. Marilyn ----- Original Message ----- From: <FC614@aol.com> To: <BARRETT-REUBEN-SC-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 10:07 AM Subject: [Barrett-Reuben-SC] Your Phone Number on Google? > Invasion of Privacy > > > Google has implemented a new feature wherein you can type someone's telephone > number into the search bar and hit enter and then you will be given a map to > their house > > Before forwarding this, I tested it by typing my telephone number in > google.com. My phone number came up, and when I clicked on the MapQuest link, it > actually mapped out where I live. Quite scary. Please look up your own number. > Read below for details. > > Think about it--if a child, single person, ANYONE gives out his/her phone > number, someone can actually now look it up to find out where he/she lives. The > safety issues are obvious, and alarming. This is not a hoax; MapQuest will > put a star on your house on your street. > > In order to test whether your phone number is mapped, go to: www.google.com > Type your phone number in the search bar with dashes (i.e. 555-555-1212) > (dashes &no spaces very important) and hit enter. This will divulge your name and > address. You will see a link option to the right for MapQuest (click on it), > which will use the address to provide a map to your home or place of business. > > If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your private information, simply > click on the telephone icon next to your phone number. Then read and click > where it says click here. > I removed my name, but it takes 48-hours. If you are unlisted in the phone > book, you might not be in there, but it is a good idea just to check. > > Please forward on to friends and family > > > ==== BARRETT-REUBEN-SC Mailing List ==== > Reuben Barrett Family Website > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~barrettbranches > Look For your Reuben Barrett Ancestor Page Here > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 >

Google has had that option for quite awhile now. If you are an unlisted or private number then you are not able to access your number on google. The reason it is done this away is their information comes from the phone books. Then anyone is able to mapquest any kind of information. People are easy to find on the internet. That is why you always need to take a precaution when giving out your phone number or any personal information. You can even find ways to look up people by their email address. With that said I hope people are a little more cautious when using the internet. Sincerely, Brandy McCann Crafton --- keith dowdy <k.dowdy@mchsi.com> wrote: > Thank you for this information. It also gave me a > Yahoo! option in addition > to the MapQuest. > > Marilyn > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <FC614@aol.com> > To: <BARRETT-REUBEN-SC-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 10:07 AM > Subject: [Barrett-Reuben-SC] Your Phone Number on > Google? > > > > Invasion of Privacy > > > > > > Google has implemented a new feature wherein you > can type someone's > telephone > > number into the search bar and hit enter and then > you will be given a map > to > > their house > > > > Before forwarding this, I tested it by typing my > telephone number in > > google.com. My phone number came up, and when I > clicked on the MapQuest > link, it > > actually mapped out where I live. Quite scary. > Please look up your own > number. > > Read below for details. > > > > Think about it--if a child, single person, ANYONE > gives out his/her phone > > number, someone can actually now look it up to > find out where he/she > lives. The > > safety issues are obvious, and alarming. This is > not a hoax; MapQuest > will > > put a star on your house on your street. > > > > In order to test whether your phone number is > mapped, go to: > www.google.com > > Type your phone number in the search bar with > dashes (i.e. 555-555-1212) > > (dashes &no spaces very important) and hit enter. > This will divulge your > name and > > address. You will see a link option to the right > for MapQuest (click on > it), > > which will use the address to provide a map to > your home or place of > business. > > > > If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your > private information, > simply > > click on the telephone icon next to your phone > number. Then read and > click > > where it says click here. > > I removed my name, but it takes 48-hours. If you > are unlisted in the > phone > > book, you might not be in there, but it is a good > idea just to check. > > > > Please forward on to friends and family > > > > > > ==== BARRETT-REUBEN-SC Mailing List ==== > > Reuben Barrett Family Website > > > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~barrettbranches > > Look For your Reuben Barrett Ancestor Page Here > > > > ============================== > > Gain access to over two billion names including > the new Immigration > > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click > to learn more. > > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > > > > > ==== BARRETT-REUBEN-SC Mailing List ==== > Barrett Surname DNA Project > http://www.flash.net/~parino/barrett-family-dna-project.htm > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the > new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click > to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 >

As someone else has already pointed out, this isn't something new to Google. They have been doing it for some time. Yes, you can remove your number today, but when they buy a new listing tomorrow it will be added back. Did you know that several of the companies that have telephone directories on line provide the same service, under the name of reverse look up? I'll bet more people know your name and the town where you live than know your phone number. They can use any of the online directory services to get the same information. It is very had to do much genealogy on line if you spend all of your time trying to hide. How do you expect others to find you so they can share information with you? If you want to protect your self never give out your name, address, phone number, driver's license number, bank account number, or social security. Of course this means you can not use any public utilities, have a checking account, work for anyone other than yourself, and you can not have anything delivered to you home. Sorry, I forgot, you can't own a house or a car because these require you to have titles which contain all kinds of private information. Please, I don't mean to offend anyone, but you can spend all of your time hiding or you can enjoy life. We take chances every day, if we do anything other than stay at home, and even that can be dangerous. Jim Barrett Bedford, TX parino@flash.net Barrett Surname DNA Project Powell Surname DNA Project -----Original Message----- From: FC614@aol.com [mailto:FC614@aol.com] Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 10:08 AM To: BARRETT-REUBEN-SC-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [Barrett-Reuben-SC] Your Phone Number on Google? Invasion of Privacy