Opting Out of WhitePages.com Neighbors Isn’t Easy

To the editor:

I’ve sampled this new resource provided by WhitePages.com and my initial thoughts and opinions are not good.  I think most of us agree that it is too easy for people to get a hold of our personal information these days.  I have personally removed my listing  because I don’t feel the need to have this information so easily accessible by anyone who wants it. 

The process to remove my listing was not obvious. I had to click on our house on the map, claim my listing by entering my email address, join WhitePages.com with a password at which point I was able to add information to my listing or I could click on the little link at the bottom that says “remove my listing.”  If you don’t remove your listing, then your information is already out there for the taking.

What’s to stop someone who might be soliciting a product or someone who has the intentions of gaining access to your house to come up to you and act like they know you by calling you by your first name?  “Hey, Susan, my mom told me to come ask you if you would consider donating to our field trip to Washington DC.”

The tricks and ploys  are endless and this new service makes it extremely easy for ANYONE with a computer to gain personal information about you.

Think of the kids who find out where a certain teacher lives and decides to egg their house.  There are too many negative things that can and will happen as soon as everyone knows how easily they can “find” someone.

I’m a bit surprised that National Night Out is tooting the horn of this new resource.  Maybe it’s fine in a perfect little town that has no problems and everyone is friendly and everyone is looking out for each other. Unfortunately, that’s not reality.  

On the other hand, when I want to find out something about someone, this will probably be my first stop.  I’ll see where they live, get their phone number and then maybe I’ll look them up on Zillow to see how much their house is worth. 

I will then zoom in on that house on Google Maps and see if I can get a good idea of how this person lives. Now imagine that I’m a criminal and want to break into that house. In this world, there is good and there is evil. The Internet does not discriminate between the two.

Seems like leaving a flyer on the door inviting them to a block party would be better because I think some neighbors would be in shock if they got a call from someone they didn’t know and would immediately want to know how they got their name and phone number. 

Kim Dumas
La Mesa