Received this through a friend. I was quiet surprised to see that by entering our phone number on the search line produced our name, address, and links to mapquest. Needless to say, I requested our number removed. > This was sent to me--I checked--and my address, with a map, was on the internet. So I'm forwarding this info to you. > > Dear friends, I just wanted to share this with you because I think this is > something that could be dangerous is used by the wrong hands. > Many people are unaware of this danger. I personally, don't want any > "Tom, Dick, or Harry" having a direct map (and the map IS perfect) to > my house just by having my phone number. > > Go to www.google.com then type in your phone number > as they show below and click on Google Search. If your phone number is > listed it will show your name and address and give you two map options. > Yahoo and MapQuest. > > See how accurate the map is.... linked to your phone number. > > There is a new feature that makes it possible to type a telephone number > into Google's search bar, click the search button, and have a MapQuest page > returned as a result. Any person wishing to discover the physical location > of a phone number, be it a home or business address, could use this feature > to locate a physical street address,and receive explicit directions on how > to get there from anywhere in the country. > > One positive use of this feature could be to determine the location of, say, > an party for whom you may only have a telephone number. On a negative note, > this feature could also be used by an angry party to find out where you live > > Google has made available an option that will allow anyone to remove their > telephone number from the database that is linked to the mapping feature. > You will first need to check if your number is listed in this manner by attempting a search - entering your full telephone number separated by dashes (e.g., 404-524-5811). If the number appears in the mapping database, an icon resembling a telephone will appear next to the first or second entry > on the results page. Clicking on this icon will take you to a page containing a description of the service, and a link to request your number be removed from the database. > > >