A Google Feature

[Ladyzekke]

Check this out.....New Google Feature:

Type your telephone number into Google's search bar, click the search button....MapQuest returns with a physical location of your phone number. People could use this feature to locate your home address, and receive explicit directions on how to get there from anywhere in the country. My name was in there...so I removed it. You can too...do this: Type in your full phone number....using dashes...like this: 555-123-4567 If your number appears in the mapping database, an icon resembling a telephone will appear next to the entry on the results page. Click on this icon and it will take you to a page containing a description of the service, and a link to request your number be removed from the database.

www.google.com

[Rokenn]

Originally posted by ladyzekke: Check this out.....New Google Feature: Type your telephone number into Google's search bar, click the search button....MapQuest returns with a physical location of your phone number. People could use this feature to locate your home address, and receive explicit directions on how to get there from anywhere in the country. My name was in there...so I removed it. You can too...do this: Type in your full phone number....using dashes...like this: 555-123-4567 If your number appears in the mapping database, an icon resembling a telephone will appear next to the entry on the results page. Click on this icon and it will take you to a page containing a description of the service, and a link to request your number be removed from the database. www.google.com

Someone can do the same thing by going to your local library and using the reverse phone directory there as well. This is a pretty old problem on the internet, alot of things like this have been available for decades, but with online access they seem so much more invasive.

[johnny]

Is that only for US citizens ? It didn't work for me, but then again, my phonenumber is not listed. Would that make a difference ?

[Ladyzekke]

Not sure Johnny if it works for only U.S. citizens, but I think anyone who has an unlisted number is probably safe.

I just didn't know about this before, figured I'd post it for others who also may not know.

[Rokenn]

Originally posted by johnny: Is that only for US citizens ? It didn't work for me, but then again, my phonenumber is not listed. Would that make a difference ?

You'd have to check with your local telco to see.

Originally posted by ladyzekke: I just didn't know about this before, figured I'd post it for others who also may not know.

And thanks for posting it! I think most people would be amazed just how much can be found out about themselves by a simple internet search. I read an article about it once where he author called it 'ego-surfing'.

[ 02-13-2003, 10:53 AM: Message edited by: Rokenn ]

[Ronn_Bman]

My number didn't come up, but my grandmother's did.

IF you just type in the area code and the prefix, it brings up a list that starts that way and tells you which city it's for.

Interesting.... [img]smile.gif[/img]

[arion windrider]

well all of my numbers didnt come up.. thank goodness but my work number did...heheh

[WillowIX]

OK I tried it out some. It seems to be a US service only. You need to use the US version of Google and search on a US phone number. I tried some Canadian, on both google US and google Canada, and I got no hits at all.

[Thoran]

I tried a bunch of local numbers, none worked... maybe it's telco dependant

[VulcanRider]

My (unlisted) phone number doesn't show anything. Good!