RANT & FYI - Online brokers should have no right to sell or otherwise provide ANY of my information!

Folks, I definitely have my knickers in a knot about this one.

Every now and then, I Google, Yahoo, Mamma and AOL myself, just to see what's out there in the Internet. I'm no celebrity, but I am a traveling and working musician who networks through the Internet. So I have privacy and safety concerns. What I have found, to my dismay, are many information brokers that offer the public the right to my information, sometimes for free, but more often than not, charge for access to things that really is nobody's fucking business. Why is this allowed?

Yes, I understand that entities such as employers, insurance companies and landlords have every right to do some research on an individual they are going to hire, provide coverage to, or allow to rent space to. That is not what I have issue with. What I have a problem with is any old fucknut finding out my address, my relatives, where they live, how much I approximately make, and how much I paid for my house and a description of my property. With my address, said fucknut can Google map my house and check out my lawn. These companies didn't ask me if they could publish any of my information, and then they have the unmitigated gall to make money off of it. Oh, and did I mention that most of the information is outdated or just wrong? And, some even have the nerve to CHARGE YOU in order to remove YOUR information you didn't give them permission to publish! Nice.

They claim that their information is accessed from public records, which is true for the most part. When you buy or sell a house, start a business, that information is filed with the courts and is considered public record, and many States have put this information online for easy access. For example, before the Internet, if someone wanted to get information about your property, they had to physically go to the courthouse and request the information. There was a layer of privacy there, and the person requesting the information had to show their face and perhaps were asked the purpose for requesting it. But the bottom line is that they had to physically go get it, and that information was not cross-referenced with other information that has nothing to do with your property. They got information about the plot of land and who brought it, not that Aunt Nellie also lives four blocks away and that you're Republican. Or got divorced. Didn't know that an online broker can provide that info about you to anyone who pays $3.95? THEY CAN. Worse yet, they can look up the details of your divorce online, and NONE of that information is redacted (non-viewable). So your ugly divorce case that was filled with unflattering accusations or situations that may or may not be true is completely available for view for a fee. So a potential employer has access to the juicy stuff that really isn't relevant to the job your seeking, and so does any motherfucker with a grudge. Or your stalker. Or your abusive ex. Not cool.

Your voter registration information includes your address and your registered party. The Department of Motor Vehicles just gives you up altogether. You can shield your Driver's License all you want, but any Schmoe can contact the DMV and get your info if they really want it. Some states, like California, are more progressive than most for making it harder to obtain such info or just making it unavailable altogether unless the info seeker has a legitimate reason to have it. Other States should be following suit, because there is just too much personal stuff that folks just don't need to know.

Yes, some of these sites allow you to remove yourself, but they sometimes make it a project, and you do run the risk of giving them even more - and updated - information about yourself when you attempt to get it removed. It's time consuming, and I mentioned earlier, they sometimes charge you. I called the Customer Service Department of one to get myself removed, and was told it would cost me $10...and I'd have to pay them $10 every year in order to keep my info off of their site. I asked the gentleman what gave his company the right to publish anything about me without my consent, and then charge ME to have it removed? He said certain information was public record, so they were able to post it, and they are a pay-site. I said even if that were true, they are still publishing my personal info, regardless of the original source, and they did not ask my permission to do so. He began stammering saying that the charge for removal was $10, and there was no way around that; that is the fee. I hung up absolutely livid. Others want you to fax your Driver's License, provide you email address, then make you wait weeks for removal. Even then, if you information changes (such as you change your address) you'll pop right back up and have to remove yourself all over again.

Add to the information that is considered public, there is the Social Media debacle. Folks are on MySpace, on Facebook, posting and blogging away. You have the ability to reveal what you want others to see, from your status to how many kids you have, but you have divulged much more when you signed up, and the control over your privacy is at the whim of the website. If you haven't heard all the hollering about Facebook and its cloak-and-dagger personal information giveaways then you must live under a freakin' rock. Even when you try to restrict access to protect yourself, at some point it may have been public without you knowing. Just because something is online shouldn't always mean it's fair game, especially if someone has taken steps to insure only certain people see it.

My bottom line is this: It just shouldn't be that easy to get personal information on people. There needs to be restrictions and regulations in place for these Online Information Brokers. Anyone that signs up to access these records needs to provide documentation to substantiate why they need this service and the purpose for it, and they should only be allowed to view information relevant to their specific needs. Anytime someone accesses this information, the subject should be notified, and if it isn't a bank, a landlord, a potential employer, etc. the subject should be given the option to not allow the information to be provided. These companies should be audited yearly to make sure that subscribers that received information were legitimate businesses with a definite 'need to know', and should be fined for those requestors that aren't and don't. An individual should be able to remove their information permamently without a fee, and if the information is not removed with 7 business days the website providing the information should be fined. If someone contacts them to correct or change information and it is not done within 7 days the website should be fined as well. There has been instances where people had their names linked with someone else's criminal record due to database aggregation error, and never knew a crime they didn't commit was attributed to them until they were denied something they applied for. That isn't right. If these companies cannot guarantee accurate information, but want to be paid anyway to provide it, then they should be held accountable when someone is accused unfairly, loses a job opportunity, or has information released about them that damages someone irreparably. They may argue that it isn't cost-efficient or that database accuracy cannot always be guaranteed, but this is about peoples lives, and they're practically giving away the most private information. If they can't respect that, or at least research what they're selling to make sure it's accurate, then they need to be put out of business. This can only happen if their product - you - speaks out about it.

Such businesses are a necessary evil, but the best compromise would be that only a few such businesses would exist, and they would be regulated and held to the same privacy-protection standard as other businesses and agencies are. In this age of identity theft, over-zealous nosy neighbors, extremists, bullies, stalkers, etc. it boggles my mind why they are allowed to make money and have free-reign with our personal info. We don't get a share of their profits, but we can get someone we never wanted to see again on our doorstep. This has got to change, and the more you know about what can be found out about you without your permission and knowledge, the more you will agree.

Start here: www.privacyrights.org, and be ready to have your eyes opened. Go.