Sometimes the self-evident isn't self-evident until someone makes it evident
January 14, 2007 8:51 am reference sourcesYesterday afternoon, wrapped in a plastic bag and lying on the ground in front of the mail box post, I found “The Talking Phone Book.” It hasn't said a word to me yet. But one line on its cover caught my attention: “Featuring White Pages Listings with ZIP Codes.” ZIP codes have been in use for more than 40 years. Why hasn't any other phone directory publisher included them? If any have, I am not aware of it. It should have become standard decades ago. It seems so self-evident!
Looking further, I followed the URL printed on the cover to talkingphonebook.com. That turns out to be another one of those portals to personal information about millions of individuals plus opportunities to buy background check and criminal records reports. It was a bit creepy, however, to look myself up and see a list of residential addresses associated with me back to 1979! The list included only city and state' full addresses are available for a fee. I also learned there is a James Rettig my age somewhere in New York.
Our notions about privacy and just what about ourselves we can keep private are rapidly becoming obsolete in an age when massive commercial databases seem to share information without restraint. Why, one wonders then, is this such a problem for federal law enforcement? But I do like the ZIP code information along with the address and phone number.
