Before the internet, access to public records was something that wasn't easy. There aren't any laws against it, but I'm starting to think there should be. Or that when Facebook sells or trades your phone number and address, they are not giving you a cut of the profits. They're not free when you consider that the end result of handing over your profile information will be making some company down the line $35 off your 'free' participation on social sites. I also bristle when people try to use the fact that these social media sites are free, in any kind of 'like it or leave it' argument. I think the truth is more that a legal name makes the personal data Facebook and Google+ collect more valuable, because it's accurate. They claim that real name use makes people behave better, when there is no evidence to support this assertion and many people are having the opposite experience.

That's why lately I've really been getting mad when sites like Facebook and Google+ require legal birth names for users. Right now it seems like data dealers are really taking advantage of the fact that few people understand this. Or that their profile data gets added to these databases, filling in any information gaps on their various people finder profiles.

I think a lot of people don't realize that when they click 'agree' on social networks and other websites that the little footnote about agreeing to share data with third parties means their phone number gets sold to literally anyone for a dollar.

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