There was a time when all the phone lines were manually operated and
utmost secrecy was maintained. It was very difficult to search or find
out anyones address or location, or for that matter, any information
about a person if you only had his or her phone number.
There was even legislation regarding it. If I remember correctly,
the telephone department was not to let out any personal information on
the basis of the phone numbers only.But the times have changed a lot.
Now we have the concept of reverse search. What it exactly means is
that with the help of just a phone number you can find out all the
personal information of a person that is available in the public
records. You may get his registered name and address instantly.
There are many online services which provide this facility either
for free or a small fee. You may find it unbelievable but for a small
fee you may get the personal information which is available in public
records like his criminal and civil cases, marriage and divorce
details.
With a few clicks and a few dollars you can find out about anyones
drunken driving arrests, his birth and adoption records, bankruptcy
details, his family history, his FBI files and many other interesting
stuff!
The list is exhaustive and scary!You can do all this anonymously,
without the other person getting any wind of your probing. You may do
all these searches from your PC too!
The reverse phone facility is actually a boon and a curse. It is a
boon for employers and of course for all those love struck Romeos who
are not getting any response from their lady loves. However, the
telesales people and the salespersons are having a field day going
through the available personal information and following up with
incessant phone calls.
You may be in the middle of a luxurious shower or an important
business meeting and suddenly you cell phone rings only to be offered a
low interest loan especially for you. Fuming you slam the phone and
wonder at the same time. How did she get my number? Well, so now you
know the culprit is the reverse phone search service!
There has been a lot of debate going on regarding it because it is
gross violation of a persons privacy. You may be going steady with the
most eligible bachelor in the town and he can open your wardrobe of
skeletons with the telephone number you gave him! And do not stay under
the impression that cell phone numbers and the unlisted numbers are
safe!
They are as prone to the problem as the landline connections. So
next time you give out your phone number to anyone just pause and
remember, you are not merely giving out your phone number, you are
giving so much more of personal information which you would not have in
any case. Or may be you should start thinking of setting the records
right before giving out your number to anyone!
