Privacy Is Dead

So I was reading about ZabaSearch, which is basically a free stalker's tool. Enter a name, and you get information on just about anyone with that name, or with similar names. The information includes your full name, month and year of birth, home address, home phone number, and an option to link to various map services for a map to your home, and links to search engines.

Plus, for twenty bucks, you can get a comprehensive background check which claims to include a 20 year history address, current telephone number, bankruptcies, legal judgments, property ownership, names and addresses of relatives, current and previous roommates and neighbors, liens, and more.

I find this faintly disturbing, really. Privacy has become a complete and utter myth, I swear.

Even worse, the people who run such businesses don't care about it. When asked in an interview about privacy concerns, Robert Zakari, the owner of Zaba just said something along the lines of "Well, it's not like this information isn't already public. We just make it easy to use. If we didn't do it, someone else would." (Not an exact quote, but close enough.)

I don't know what is worse: that he is so callous and uncaring, that he is absolutely right.

Everything is a goddamn commodity these days. And you being left alone just isn't profitable.

And, of course, the fact that such tools could be used by a predatory person to find out where his latest victim lives is completely irrelevant.

So to translate the Zaba-guy’s earlier statement: “I don’t care if a rapist who takes a fancy to a woman can get a map to her house, as long as I get paid.”

Or perhaps “Guys, for $20, I’ll help the drunken psycho who got pissed at you at the bar learn the addresses and phone numbers of everyone meaningful in your life.”

I hate our society. Can I change allegiance? To Mars, perhaps?

Ah well. Not making much sense, mainly because it’s 2:30 in the morning.

So rock on, folks.