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How private is your personal information?
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You have an unlisted phone number, you guard your personal information, you shred your financial papers- so everything is private and safe, right? Would you be alarmed to know that even when you think things are private, a perfect stranger can look you up online, see your address, birth date, past addresses, and even see a photo of your home, down to the detail of your child’s play set out in the back yard? Alarmed yet? You should be.Take a look at this website: www.zabasearch.com. Simply plug your name in, and you are likely to be surprised, and probably a bit distressed to see all the information that is readily available online.
How could this happen? Easy.
Virtually every major change in your life is recorded somewhere in a government document. When you are born, a birth certificate is issued. When you obtain a driver's license, get married, buy a house, file a lawsuit ‘ all of these events are recorded in public documents easily available to you and to others. Government records are intentionally public in order to enable citizens to monitor the government and to ensure accountability in our society. The challenge is to balance the public’s right to information with the individual's right to privacy.
The two main federal privacy laws are the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Freedom of Information Act, but they apply only to federal government agencies. And they almost seem to conflict with each other, as the Privacy Act deals with keeping government records about an individual confidential, while the Freedom of Information Act is commonly used to pry open government files. But these laws are attempts to balance the public's right to know - against the rights of an individual to retain their own privacy.
For more information, view this helpful website: www.PrivacyRights.org
So how can you get removed from the ZabaSearch site? You can “opt out” by sending an email to info@zabasearch.com. The email request must contain your full name, date of birth, address, telephone number and list of records to be removed (i.e. if multiple addresses are listed, list each address). Do yourself a favor, and take just a minute right now to get yourself removed from this list - then forward thee link to this article to your friends and family as well.
Check out the ongoing discussion of math and math education from the Dallas Math Education Examiner.
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