"I had direct access to the Social Security database, the national crime computer, state driver's license information, international passport information, basically just about anything you can imagine to get someone's identity," Adams explained. "I could look up what bank your home mortgage was in..."

Herein lies the wisdom of JJ and other privacy seeking individuals. Yet, it also shows how vulnerable we all are, since even our personal identifications are visible to people in the know. Our DL and Passports are "hidden in plain sight."

Below is a link to an article that contains MANY links to the privacy opt-out procedures of Internet Data Brokers, Search Engines, etc.

I havent tried all of them, but the few that I've investigated seem legitimate. On some of them however, the cure may be more deadly than the disease (requesting you to fax your drivers license to them, etc).

Worth a look at least and your readers can make up their minds if they wish to opt-out or not.

Submitted Link #1: http://www.bargaineering.com/articles/how-to-remov...

According to the article, this is applicable to companies who perform a service then bill you later (cell phone, utilities, etc).

Yet another reason to follow JJ's advice and pay cash up front or provide a deposit.

Enjoy, Jay

Submitted Link #1: http://consumerist.com/2010/06/got-id-is-a-questio...

Initially offered to the German state of Baden-Württemberg back in February, the controversial disc, purchased for EUR185,000 (negotiated down from EUR500,000), is now in the hands of tax investigators.

Bowing to pressure from the Free Democratic Party and given unresolved legal concerns, Baden-Württemberg’s state government elected not to purchase the disc at the time. With an about-turn now, however, the state government is eager to make full use of the data contained on the disc.

Perhaps the next move will be to have our governments purchase stolen cars. This would reduce the spending on vehicles for elected members use while having the added benefit of lowering the cost and workload of customs officers opening and examining containers at the dockside ;-)

Submitted Link #1: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/Tax-cheat_dat...

"Bond is scheduled to be sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Ellen Bree Burns on Aug. 3, at which time he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000."

"Federal law requires all financial institutions to file a Currency Transaction Report for currency transactions that exceed $10,000. To evade the filing of a CTR, individuals will often structure their currency transactions so that no single transaction exceeds $10,000. Structuring involves the repeated depositing of amounts of cash less than the $10,000 limit, or the splitting of a cash transaction that exceeds $10,000 into smaller cash transactions in an effort to avoid the reporting requirements. Even if the deposited funds are derived from a legitimate means, financial transactions conducted in this manner are still in violation of federal criminal law."

"Bond has admitted that he knew that banks were required to issue a report for a transaction in excess of $10,000, and that he purposely kept the cash deposits in amounts at or below $10,000 because he did not want the banks to complete the required reporting forms, and did not want people inquiring about the source of the cash."

"On April 26, 2007, Person A was successful at the Foxwoods Resort Casino and cashed out approximately $121,300 in U.S. currency." "Person A gave the $121,300 in U.S. currency to Bond, who told Person A he would deposit it into the bank for him."

"On April 27 and April 30, 2007, Bond structured $79,100 of the cash he received by making eight deposits in amounts ranging from $9,500 to $10,000 into Person A’s account at various branches of Citizen’s Bank in Durham, Middletown and Cromwell. Also, on April 30, 2007, Bond structured additional cash deposits in amounts less than $10,000 into his personal bank account at Washington Mutual Bank in Brooklyn, N.Y.,"

JJ Luna mentions structuring. This example shows how serious this law is. Highrollers at a casina will draw attention to themselves...

Submitted Link #1: http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2010/05/17...

If you open an off-shore bank account, you are required by federal law to report it to the IRS. It's an anti-money laundering law, and the IRS is vigorously pursuing and prosecuting people who fail to declare foreign bank accounts.

The government tried hard to get UBS to roll over and release it's "confidential" Swiss bank accounts (which they got a list of from an informant), and the Swiss government just recently declined to cooperate with the IRS.

Be aware of the law before you get involved in opening off-shore anonymous accounts.

As you'll see in the article, the founder of this company opted out so his information is not exposed like the rest of us. If you read it carefully, the very reason he gives for exposing everyone's information is the reason that he used to OPT OUT and NOT have his information exposed!! What a hypocrite!!

And to top it off, he charges a FEE to get your information removed. I'm sure he didn't have to worry about that!!

Privacy watchdogs indicate that it's not illegal; however, if people utilize this information for illegal purposes, then that's another matter.

What can we do to fix this? What methods are you using to put out misinformation so your real identity is not exposed?

Submitted Link #1: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fiw-lazarus-201...

... There is no true fix, other than moving.

1) The number of people who lived in your house on April 1st

2) The gender ratio (if there were 6 people, then tell them there were 4 males and 2 females, for example).

3) The race and Hispanic origin of each person, male or female. Then simply REFUSE to give any further specific information that would identify you.

The census worker *should* then follow the internal rules and not try to contact a neighbor for more information. Of course, each census worker sometimes has their own agenda... But those are the basic guidelines that I received in a memo last week.