|
| Back.. |
| Alaska Alerts |
| |
| Is People Search Web Site An Invasion Of Privacy? |
| |
Web Site Allows Users To Find Addresses, Phone Numbers, More
Author: Alaskalink Editor Al... by NBC10.com |
According to ZabaSearch.com, the Greek word Zaba means free or at no cost. However, a few viewers who have contacted Consumer Alert are worried that the Web site ZabaSearch.com could cost them their privacy by posting their personal information online.
"J." sent this question to Consumer Alert: "It is a Web site that allows anyone to look up the personal information of any name they can find on the site."
Alicia from Philadelphia wrote: "I was very surprised how easy it was to find anyone's information. Is this Web site legal?"
Charlotte said: "Web sites like this is what is causing so much ID theft."
ZabaSearch.com, also known as PeopleData.com, is legal and it is similar to other Internet people databases. By entering a person's first and last name, it provides addresses, phone numbers and birth dates. For a fee of $25 to $35, you can get an instant background check, even a satellite photo of the address listed.
You can also request to remove your information. Under ZabaSearch's terms and conditions, you must e-mail your name, address, phone number and date of birth in order to opt out. However, ZabaSearch said it could not guarantee that your information won't pop up again sometime in the future because, as NBC 10 tech expert Ken Hartman said, there's so much personal information in cyberspace.
"With over 4 billion web pages out on the Internet, the odds are that something about you is going to appear on one of those Web pages," Hartman said.
A statement from the company said: "Because ZabaSearch is the first to offer this information free to the public, many people are finding for the first time this type of information is widely available. All information was gathered from publicly available sources -- all legal in all 50 states."
ZabaSearch is based in California. The Better Business Bureau there told NBC 10 that the site had an unsatisfactory record because of unanswered complaints about unauthorized charges to consumers' credit cards.
Consumer Alert has talked with a few people who have attempted to opt out of ZabaSearch's listings, but so far none of those people had gotten confirmation of their removal.
|
| Back.. |
| |
|
|
|
