Question one nine two (dot com)

[- English -]

Just a question regarding http://www.192.com/, which some of you might know how it works etc.

How do they collect all this information, which I would consider personal. I have no intentions of paying to find what other information they hold, but If I search my family name and postcode, I get a list of all my family members, even a map of where we live, an age guide and the potentional to find out a lot more information.

Surely this information should be covered by the data protection act? yet its so easily available for anyone to view it.

Anyone enlighten me?

 

[Wazzerphuk]

It's all publicly available information obtained from voting registers, censuses etc, AFIAK.

 

[Zenith.UK]

Yes, this is from all the local authorities selling your data. The main one is Electoral Register, but they also hook into the BT phone books and other directory listings. If you feel threatened or intimidated by it (and I did), you can have yourself removed from their listings.

Download this form: http://statics.192.com/rel-3.16/downloads/C01.pdf
Fill it out a copy for each surname and postcode you want removed from their listings. Send all the copies in the same envelope to save on postage.
I sent in 9 forms to remove the last 10 years of addresses for me and my wife. We were off their listings within about 10 days. If you now ego surf my name, I simply don't exist in the first 10 pages of Google results. It also helps that there are some more famous people than me that share my name.

[edit] I almost forgot... if you have a subscription with Ancestry.co.uk, you can find birth index registers for everyone in the UK. From that you can find their mother's maiden name. That's why I never use my mum's maiden name in security questions.

 

[Lamp]

Wait until the NHS start selling your personal medical files (eg. to insurance companies)...if they aren't doing so on the sly already...

 

[rynnor]

Just change your name by deed poll to smith or patel or singh - good luck to anyone finding you in that lot.

Edit - I noticed something odd in an old address we lived at - it showed an electoral register entry that had someone I've never heard of down as living with us?

 

[Keitanz]

You can find out so much stuff about people using that site, it really is unreal.

 

[Himse]

Keitanz tried to stalk me, failed.