The Carriages at Parliament Place

Safety: Your Phone and Address Are Linked!

Apr 02, 2003

This seemed like a hoax when I first saw it, but I tried entering a friend's phone number, and it indeed linked to a map showing the exact address and driving directions.

I have unlisted and unpublished numbers, so my own did not show up; but if yours does appear, you might want to follow the instructions to remove yourself from the links if safety is on your mind.

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Hi Everyone...

Did you know that if you go to www.google.com and type in your telephone number in the search box, it will pull up directions to your house (with a map)! There is a way to have your number removed. Many people are unaware of this danger. I was not, in fact!

Go to www.google.com then type in your phone number (separated by hyphens, including area code) and click on Google Search. If your phone number is published in a telephone directory, there will be a phone icon to the left of your name. Then it will show your address and give you two map options. Yahoo and MapQuest. See how accurate the map is to your home. VERY SCARY!!!

Any person wishing to discover the physical location of a phone number, be it a home or business address, could use this feature to locate a physical street address, and receive directions on how to get there from anywhere in the country. In the age of the internet communication we all know the dangers of this - for adults and CHILDREN!

Google has made available an option that will allow anyone to REMOVE their telephone number from the database that is linked to the mapping feature. You will first need to check if your number is listed in this manner by attempting a search - entering your full telephone number separated by dashes (e.g. 555-555-5555), clicking on this icon will take you to a page containing a description of the service, and a link to request your number be removed from the database.

So far, unlisted and unpublished numbers and cell phone or pager numbers, do not show up.

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For your own safety, I urge you to de-link yourself from the Google search engine.

Len Campaigne
2062 London Carriage Grove