Type Your Phone Number In Google Search

[SlowwHand]

Go ahead.


From an MP3 Newsgroup:

> This is no joke. I just tried it with a friends phone number (mine is
> unlisted so it didn't work) and their name, address and a map to their
> house was openly available to anyone. Check out your phone numbers
> people, and follow directions to block the info.
>
>
>
> Google has implemented a new feature wherein you can type someone's
> telephone number into the search bar and hit enter and then you will
> be given a map to their house. Before forwarding this, I tested it by
> typing my telephone number in google.com. My phone number came up,
> and when I clicked on the MapQuest link, it actually mapped out where
> I live. Quite scary. Please look up your own number. Read below for
> details. Think about it--if a child, single person, ANYONE gives out
> his/her phone number someone can actually now look it up to find out
> where he/she lives. The safety issues are obvious, and alarming. This
> is not a hoax; Mapquest will put a star on your house on your street.
> In order to test whether your phone number is mapped, go to
> http://www.google.com/ Type your phone number in the search bar with
> dashes (i.e. 555-555-1212) (dashes & not spaces very important) and
> hit enter. This will divulge your name and address.
> You will see a link option to the right for Mapquest (click on it),
> which will use the address to provide a map to your home or place of
> business.
> If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your private information,
> simply click on the telephone icon next to your phone number then
> page down to "Phone Book" and hit "click here".
> I removed my name, but it takes 48-hours. If you are unlisted in the
> phone book, you might not be in there, but it is a good idea just to
> check.
> Please forward on to friends and family

This is nothing new and it's not just Google that provides the
service. There are tons of search services on the net that do the same
thing. I have been using telephone lookup services for years to find
people for my high school alumni association. It has been a valuable
tool in reuniting long lost friends and classmates.

Like any other modern convenience it can be used for good or evil and
it's just something we have to deal with.

[MikeH]

I don't have a US number but I found a US number on the web and tried it and it worked.

Doesn't work on UK numbers.

[Q Classic]

google's done this for ages.

there are some restrictions, like it doesn't work on mobiles, foreign numbers, or the like. it just takes something like the yellow pages and indexes it.

[Spec]

Does not work for Canadian numbers either.

Spec.

[Q Classic]

canada's foreign, isn't it?

[Space05us]

is google bye bye or something? every time Ive tried to go to the website in the past two days it hasnt been there

[Q Classic]

could be a virus. there's one that does that, 'cause google's still around.

[Space05us]

could be a virus.

fick.

[Gangerolf]

in norway, if you know someone's name or even only their phone number, you can easily find out their address, age, income, fortune and how much tax they pay. it's all on the 'net.

[Sprayber]

There is a feature where you can get them to remove it if im not mistaken.

[Alinestra Covelia]

I tried it with my phone number and nothing came up.

I guess I haven't been living here long enough.

[rev]

What's wrong with this?

If you don't post your full name or your full telephone number or your full address on the internet, it'd be pretty bloody hard to figure out any of these other pieces of information.

I use this feature on Google all the time. If I get a call from a number I don't recognize and a computer is handy, I'll throw the number in Google and see if it can tell me who it is. Very useful.

[Japher]

I like it, how else am I suppose to attract stalkers?

[Alinestra Covelia]

Originally posted by Gangerolf
in norway, if you know someone's name or even only their phone number, you can easily find out their address, age, income, fortune and how much tax they pay. it's all on the 'net.

I guess that's why Norway has such low corruption. Wasn't it listed as the single least corrupt nation in the world for 2002?

[Locutus]

Originally posted by Space05us
is google bye bye or something? every time Ive tried to go to the website in the past two days it hasnt been there

Not a virus, you've probably been hijacked:

http://tomcoyote.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=273

[Gangerolf]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia


I guess that's why Norway has such low corruption. Wasn't it listed as the single least corrupt nation in the world for 2002?

It could have something to do with it. Tax information has been public for a long time, but it has only been on-line the last 4 years or so.
About that listing, I don't know. It could be, but I remember reading somewhere that it's the most corrupt of the Nordic countries. Don't know what year that was though.

[Arrian]

My number didn't come up. But damn, my parent's number did - gave their name & address.

-Arrian

[Buck Birdseed]

Originally posted by Gangerolf
in norway, if you know someone's name or even only their phone number, you can easily find out their address, age, income, fortune and how much tax they pay. it's all on the 'net.

In sweden you can get all this, their passport photograph, the names and adressed of their siblings and other relatives, their school grades, criminal record, any letters they've sent to any government agency ever, what weapons they own, if they've got a driver's licence, how much they pay in rent, maps of their properties, or any parking violoations they've acquired.

Of course most of these take a few phone calls.

[connorkimbro]

hmm, since i live overseas right now, i couldn't try it with my phone number. . . but i tried my parents phone number and it didn't work.

[Gatekeeper]

Hah! It has my parents' phone number, all right, but it puts their physical location 20 miles north and east of where they're really at. Well, so much for using Yahoo! Maps as a missile guidance system.

[SlowwHand]

If you type in any phone number, it will tell you the name associated with the number.
One doesn't have to try whitepages or anywhere else.
That's not good, I don't think.
Talk about loss of privacy and such, this is an illustration.

[Pekka]

Same here, with name or number you can get a hold of information that the Swedes and peeps in Norway do. Just for the record, Finland was yet again the least corrupted 2003... .

[Ned]

What we really need is the GPS location of a person when you type in their cell phone number. (Watch out guys. Your wife knows where you are!)

[Japher]

An all better reason to keep women computer ignorant

[Pekka]

Ned, we already have that service . I'm not sure if it's working yet.. IMO I think that's just horrible service.

[Ned]

Pekka, it certainly will put a crimp in debauchery.

[Pekka]

It will.. it is too easy to find out personal information about people in here. I guess we're open society

Funny part, that the largest (or second largest) phone company (cell phones, internet services, big company) actually had a big scandal, including unlawful checkings of peoples calling information and some tappings too It's still under police investigation, and it seems like few thousand citizens were victims. Nice uh?

It was just in papers, that our PM got pissed off, because some stranger obtained the blueprints of his home, lawfully .

[Space05us]

hey look they didnt sink my battle ship.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by SlowwHand

> Google has implemented a new feature wherein you can type someone's
> telephone number into the search bar and hit enter and then you will
> be given a map to their house.

This is going to blow the cover of the gay mafia.

[Monk]

Buck,

Your criminal records are public property? I thought when it came to horrible ideas, you guys just couldn't top Systembolaget, but I guess I under-estimated you.