FCC Invades our Privacy?

Like it or not, your address has been public information since you were born. I have no problem with my address being published. If anyone uses it to try to do me harm, HE is the one who will be in serious trouble, not I.

This squawk is much ado about nothing. Your address is in hundreds of databases; 101 is not a problem.

 

Ask your friend if he's ever handed a credit card to a sub-minimum-wage waiter who then wanders off with it for several minutes.

There are a lot of bits of information far more sensitive than your name and address that are much easier to get.

 

<BLOCKQUOTE>Me, I'm going to find a stocking big enough so santa can leave me the tower I'd like to have.</BLOCKQUOTE>

Good point; how would Santa know who to give the neat ham stuff to if not for the FCC database?



Happy holidays all.

 

You can get peoples address from MANY MANY sites on the web not just hear, Like WWW.BIGYELLOW.COM for an example, and you don't have to know much about the person . What about your local phone book . Most people don' know it but if you don't get an unpublished number your phone number AND address get sent to those web sites all over . And even if your number is unpublished try those eb sites it just might be there . At least it's not like its your SSN .

 

I would have to agree on the posting of our addresses. Its is a invasion and all the know it alls telling you your address has been on hundreds of databases dont KNOW it all. Its not a bad idea for a P.O. Box. In fact I think its a great idea. I might do that. But anyone comes calling here to start trouble they can always find a nice 45 colt in there face HI HI. Seriously I have never had a problem and hope I and others don't most people are decent out there. But of course there are the few that are scum and would do something like try to track you down. You can always say if you move keep your old address on there data base it would work for a bit. But the PO Box is a good idea I say.

 

Well said!

 

In "Frequency," a man uses a Heathkit ham radio to converse with his deceased father. In "The Anderson Tapes," a boy uses an older Heathkit to call for help during a robbery/hostage crisis. This "QSL Stalker" angle seems like a direct-to-cable plot line. However, I'd suggest 11 meters or VHF because of the distance angle. Stalking via DX is a little fantastic, unless you want a "travelling photographer who kills everyone with his father[etc]'s call sign." It's likely to be too bizarre to scare an intelligent viewer. Concentrate on CB or (better yet) a hockey-masked killer who tracks FRS radios in the woods. And tell your friend that telemarketers are taping her voice so that "they" can splice together false order tapes since "they" already have all of her vital information. (Sinister laugh). %)

 

You have a good point, I have used a PO Box for years - thus to delay the casual snooper.

Thought I had done a good job on privacy issues only to have my parents (Internet novices to the max & almost 80 yrs old) pull up home phone number, street address and tax records!, home value! and other stuff that is out there for anyone to pull up trying to find my email addr.


LEXUS-NEXUS used to give out SSN, a ready made database for ID theft! We have contacted the worst of the on line databases and been 'removed' but I'm sure dozens more are out there unkonown to me.


Welcome to the bave new world - via the internet......

 

hey i agree with you there that i wouldn't want to give my address out to a total stranger either. But i think because they are licenses and they have to go through the FCC and have to go the all that work to get on the air.

 

Callsign lookup services and Phone books are very mild compared to the City Directory. The City Directory has a lot of information about you, look yourself up in one sometime. To obtain Anyone's (not just yours) Birth or Marriage or Death Certificate, all one has to do is call city hall and ask for them and pay the fee and their yours. I can go on and on, but what's the point. Your information is out there and in a lot of places. Far more than you know.

JOE / WV2NY

 

I'll bet she would even be appalled to hear that you actually have to depend on some element of chance to make a contact! After all, how can such an arcane, outmoded thing even EXIST when there are cellular phones and computers and the Internet...(swish of blonde mane)????

 

First off, if you are going to deal with the US government in any way, you have to get used to the idea of the Freedom of Information Act. If you don't like it, tough. Under the FOIA anybody can request your address, ALL government filings you have made, and I understand they can even request a copy of your tax return.


And suggesting a PO box is a further display of blatant ignorance. If you don't believe me then go to your local post office with one dollar, randomly choose a PO box number, then tell a clerk "Under the Freedom of Information Act I request the name and address of the holder of box number ." Last time I had to do that it cost $1 for the information, and took about two minutes (not including the line).


If you don't want anybody to get information about you from the government, then:<UL>
<LI>Don't get a birth certificate</LI>
<LI>Don't get a social security number</LI>
<LI>Don't file taxes</LI>
<LI>Don't get a passport</LI>
<LI>Don't get any kind of government license</LI>
<LI>Don't file anything else with the Federal Government</LI>
<LI>Don't get a driver's license</LI>
<LI>Don't get a job</LI>
<LI>Move into the mountains somewhere and become a complete hermit.</LI> [/list]
The only option to keep your home address a secret is to find some other address (not a PO box) you can use to reliably & quickly receive mail. Choose a celebrity know is a ham (ex: Patty Loveless) or a pilot (ex: John Travolta) and look them up. They will have business offices listed as their address, and that's the only way they can prevent anybody from easily getting their address from government databases. You can usually get their addresses through the FOIA if you know what to look for, but this gives them a measure of privacy.


If my advice is asking too much, then you have to get used to the type of world you live in. And if you think the government is too free with your information, just check the internet cookies that are left on your computer to find out how much people can find out about you just by watching you surf.


Brian
KB7OIE

 

I thought I had seen everything on this website but, live and learn. This is a new world since Sept. 11th.


I don't know anyone in ham radio who would want to stalk someone, unless that ham was also a celebrity of some kind. But really, this post is way off the deep end and a little screwy. Don't cha think?

What's next, Ham Radio Terrorists? Yeah, they kill people with old heathkits by beating OT's over their heads to thin the ranks.


But, Ham Radio Stalkers? That's a new one.


Then again, if Pamela Anderson got her ticket I might want to be stalked just a little bit.

 

Ask her if she has a driver's license or is a registered voter, if she's ever gotten a mortgage, bought or sold real estate, had a listed phone number.

If so, her address information is also a matter of the public record. So what? If someone wants names and addresses, there are a zillion in the phonebooks of any public library.

 

"Is the FRN used by any other agency in the government?"



Possibly. Who would know for sure? What must be remembered is this FRN is an indexed reference to your Social Security Number, already in the Federal database format. Why does the FCC need my Social Security Number in order to grant me a license where I am explicitly prohibited from making any profit? Their claim is that Congress requires its collection, for "tax purposes". Bull! I want to know WHY? Remember, SS# can index EVERYTHING in your life. Driver's License, guns, finances, workplace, etc. so why would they need this? Profiling? National ID? Data sharing with other agencies? What is their privacy policy on sharing the FRN info? The list is endless!


That is why I REFUSE to submit a correct SS# for any Federal Registration Number for my FCC license. They simply haven't proven they need it so badly that they can't live without it! Put into the wrong hands, this info could have deadly consequences! Publishing this number is insane to begin with! A hackers dream!



Guess what? I think the ARRL has dropped the ball: a) For not challenging the requirement of an SS# for an FCC FRN b) For not challenging its open publication! They claim to represent our interest, right? Privacy is of major interest! ZZZzzzz...


Paranoid? YES! Paranoia is a good thing in today's world! It might just save your life...