I found a site by chance, that takes the VIN you input and if the car is owned by the original new car purchaser, gives you the model-year, make, model, owner’s name, address, and phone number!
Put in an owner’s name and it’ll give you the VIN, model-year, make, model, address, and phone number!
I even tried it on a CPO (certified pre-owned) car I bought from a dealer several years ago, and all my information was revealed!
It couldn’t turn out anything for used cars I bought.
Scary! What could some stranger do with this information?
You guys know about this?
I live in the sticks. I don’t get out much. What else is scary out there that I’m missing? Lay it on me!
That doesn’t surprise me. Data mining has become a big business. And companies sell their data for a nice little profit. Sports Authority has filed bankruptcy and one of their last acts is selling all their customer data.
I dunno. Maybe we’re just a little paranoid. You can get everything except the VIN out of the phone book for nothing. I went to Human Resources (use the term loosely) once to get the address of an employee. I was told that was confidential. I said OK, I’ll just look it up in the phone book. She gave me the information. I had my tires rotated yesterday and on the receipt and in the computer is my VIN and name and address. Maybe they’ll sell it someday.
One thing that did upset me a little and I’m not sure exactly why is getting a lawn care ad in the mail. Along with the offer was a sky picture of my house and yard. That to me was a little breach of privacy. The garage door was open too. Some years ago we used to deal with a European historical tour director and my wife was the midwest contact. So the guy’s kid put my wife’s picture on their world wide web site with name, address, phone, etc. and a picture of our house. I thought that was a little over the top so he took it off right away.
I’m just not sure what to think of all the electronic possibilities for tracking people but I do think we need to revisit the privacy rules before it gets any more out of hand.
All this new technology can be a good thing or a bad thing.
I remember when Google street view first came out and people were afraid that bandits would see into their garage…like @Bing mentioned…and find who owns things to steal.
The problem is that those google maps are so old that Bing may not even live there anymore, or has moved that inviting item to another location.
Still I don’t really want the bandits seeing what I have either.
But, I find the Google satellite view to be handy when I look up a new client if they live on a road that I’m not familiar with. Sometimes I can even see the horses standing in the field.
I, personally don’t like the fact that so much of my info is out there on the web…even if it is only accessible to those that need it.
I recently had eye surgery and was amazed that info from my family doctor that had no relationship to my eye was in their records. Some day that info will include when the last time I had my teeth cleaned. Maybe it will even cross reference when my oil was last changed.
I think we will all regret some day that all this info is out there.
Who is to say that some day the following doesn’t happen.
You have two elderly uncles that you are their only caring family member. So you do a little shopping for the two before visiting each month. One likes a shot of Brandy at night before bed…the other likes two beers in the evening.
You go to the grocery store and buy these items, and to get the sale prices on your groceries you swipe your card.
The grocery chain sells the list of items that you bought…along with your ID to a third party.
Now your insurance company uses this third party to rate the risk factor of insuring you.
The third party decides that because of your alcohol consumption that you are high risk for insurance.
Your insurance company never divulges where they get their info but denies you coverage.
In my county, public records are just that, public. Getting info used to take legwork But NOW they are accessible from the internet in a flash.
A few examples; I know when my the roof was replaced on my home by the permit records.
My neighbor’s boyfriend went into the local jail for 90 days for a DUI. I pulled his complete criminal and civil court records with nothing more than his name and a rough idea of his age. Not the first DUI, BTW.
I know what my BIL paid for his house and how much his mortgage is and his second mortgage. From property and mortgage records.
My neighbor across the street had lots of work done on the foreclosure house he bought without a single permit - the code enforcement people caught up with him (I didn’t turn him in).
Most people have NO idea the amount of info available in just public records, let alone the piles collected by Google, Facebook and the like.
There’s a hair salon chain that REQUIRES you to give them your name,address, phone and email before they cut your hair. And many other companies are going that way. I take my business elsewhere.
“There’s a hair salon chain that REQUIRES you to give them your name,address, phone and email before they cut your hair.”
I encountered this once getting a haircut in Jamaica.
I gave them bo-oh-ohgus information.
I used to tell the cashiers at Radio Shack I lived at 1601 Pennsylvania Ave.
For those who don’t know POTUS is at 1600 Penn.
When they ask, I tell the check-out clerk at Harbor Freight I don’t have a telephone. It seems to cause them some cognitive dissonance, their eyes get really big, not really an annoyed look, more shocked, thinking I guess how could it be possible an American not have a telephone … lol
In the early 1980s I acquired a Safeway Club Card. 2 decades later I read that it was so much more than a member discount program. I have not used it or acquired any others since.
Well the IRS is on my back again and on my cell phone this time. I’ve gotten two calls today saying they are going to have me arrested. I see the Sheriff every Sunday so I tried to turn myself in before but he wouldn’t take me. I don’t know where they got my cell number though.
Had my credit card locked yesterday, buying some docks for the cabins in MN. The dock company punched in the numbers over the phone. Card company said it looked like a suspicious charge as they knew my card was not in MN. Maybe the agent misspoke, how could they know where my card was? Maybe because I used it earlier for an oil change payment I guess.
