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Connecticut Governor Wants 'Opt Out' For Online Directories

Measure would help citizens delete information from Internet address books

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

December 28, 2007 

Rell compared the service to an electronic version of the government's anti-telemarketing "Do Not Call" list, noting that while there is no law against sharing publicly available information, “I suspect many people would choose to shield at least some of that information if given a chance.”

"There have long been Web sites that, for a modest fee, specialize in taking bits and pieces from each of these sources and assembling a surprisingly complete profile of an individual – including Social Security number, address history, employer and even the make and model of their car," Rell said.

“Now some sites are adding even more personal information to search results – ages and occupations, for example, for people whose names come up on a telephone number search. I am concerned this ‘personal information creep’ will put more and more individual privacy at risk," Rell said.

Rell did not offer much in the way of details for her proposal, but emphasized that she wanted to put Connecticut at the cutting edge of privacy protections for state citizens.

“Privacy concerns are constantly evolving. We must not only keep up with them but do our best to stay ahead of the curve,” she said.

Connecticut's government has been especially aggressive in pursuing perpetrators of data breaches and identity theft scams, as when state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sued consulting company Accenture for losing a data tape containing information on 58 Connecticut taxpayers and several hundred state bank accounts.

Business is booming

Online directories such as WhitePages.Com, 411.Com, and ZabaSearch have profited from collecting published names, addresses, and identifying information and turning it into easily searched references. Sites such as Intelius also offer background checks on third parties and more detailed personal information for a fee.

In addition to the lack of legal protections consumers have against being included in the data sales shuffle, getting one's information removed can be a difficult and time-consuming process. ZabaSearch was criticized for requiring anyone who wanted to "opt out" to send in even more personal information via mail and hope for the best.

Companies have even sprung up that promise to help frustrated consumers remove their information from online directories, search engines, and address books -- for a fee, of course. But once information gets out on the Internet, it's very hard to remove completely.

The cascade of data breaches and increasing awareness of identity theft have sharpened the desires of people to have greater control over their personal information and prevent their data from being used for fraud or abuse of any kind. Read this previous article on ZabaSearch for tips on what you can do to reduce your online "footprint."

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