| #: |
From / Date: |
Question / Answer: |
| 7532. |
Drake
LA, CA
Age: 34
May 5, 2010
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7527 - Databases
Duke, it's perfectly reasonable to assume PI's can do this too. Remember, those agencies had to have warrants and reasons to access that information. PI's have fewer restrictions.
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| 7531. |
Ron
Inkster, MI
Age: 35
May 5, 2010
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answering machines and voicemail
I'd like some opinions on which privacy conscious folk prefer: voicemail or an answering machine.
Unfortunately with the answering machines on the market today, they all seem to have only a 3-digit PIN for calling in to retrieve messages. This is hardly secure and easily hacked.
With Voicemail the message itself is stored on a 3rd party server and the law says that means no privacy for the messages stored.
No win situation, but is there a preferable option between the two?
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| 7530. |
leonard
columbia, sc
Age: 36
May 5, 2010
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p.o. box update
just tried to open a p.o. box using a nominee. my nominee had just recently moved, so her license and vehicle registration had not yet been changed. she filled out the app using the non updated info, and afterward the postal clerk said that since the box was in a different zip than the one on her DL, her old postal carrier would have to be contacted to verify that she is getting mail there before approval. oops. this is the first time i've encountered this and i wanted you folks to be aware of it.
...
Sounds like a big post office. Try a smaller one if you can. Also, if your nominee has a passport, use that for ID instead of the DL.
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| 7529. |
Brad
Woodstock, IL
Age: 25
May 5, 2010
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7520 DL Question
Jeff,
My answer is thus: on some applications for a DMV it asks for a mailing address and a street address. The mailing address can be a PO BOX but the street address cannot be a PO BOX.
In some states, your PO BOX can go on your DL; if you choose to do this, there will be no question asked if you live thither--the answer will be obvious.
The key here to understand is that the application (in some states) does not ask for "home address" but only a "street address." This can be a ghost address or commercial mailing service. What's more, if a cop sees the DL with a PO BOX and looks up your "street address" on your DMV profile, he or she will see a "street address" which will give the false assumption that you live there, when you don't.
Moreover, it is not illegal to not give your "home address" in place of your "street address," since the legality of the phrase protects you.
If your DMV asks for "home address," you can still wiggle around this by giving a real address, but not your own home address. But this is up to you to decide.
These suggestions will eliminate a police officer's inquiry at the source. If not, be very careful with your words. Tell him or her that the DMV application (if applicable) does not ask for a "home address," so you are not "legally required to surrender this information to anyone," and "that you value your privacy."
Good Luck!!!
...
Hmmm ... I think the cop may legally require your true home address. Perhaps some law officer out there can help clarify this.
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| 7528. |
Fred
Los Angeles, CA
Age: 35
May 5, 2010
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CMRA vs PO BOX in CA
What is your opinion on a CMRA vs a PO box from the USPS in CA? I do like the fact that a CMRA will accept UPS and FEDex but not at the expense of accepting process. I read Marc's post #7150 in regards to accepting service by having a CMRA in CA. I cant seem to find that same requirement for a PO box, though I know the USPS form has gotten more stringent in recent years.
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| 7527. |
Duke
Lexington, Kentucky
Age: 47
May 5, 2010
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Times Square suspect IDed through prepaid cellphone use
Prepaid cell phones use allows anyone interested to identity you as the owner...
Your "circle of friends", to use a phone company ad phrase, that you call, can be used to identify you fairly easily, it seems.
from blogs.techrepublic.com.com/datacenter/?p=2579
Cell phone records: From the Craigslist seller investigators were able to track down the
prepaid cell phone number Shahzad used.
The phone was tossed, but the databases that recorded calls lived on
...which links to www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36738.html
It begins like this:
The number from a disposable cellphone led FBI agents to the suspect arrested Monday night for allegedly driving a car bomb into Times Square on Saturday evening, according to a senior official.
“They were able to basically get one phone number and by running it through a number of databases, figure out who they thought the guy was,” the official said.
...and later in the article:
The man had offered the vehicle on Craigslist, and FBI agents were able to recover the number from
a disposable cellphone that had been used by the buyer.
The suspect didn't still have the phone. But using a lot of technology and access to database, agents
located the suspect.
Hmmm....can an enterprising PI get into the same databases?
Is it reasonable to think that many PIs can and not just the government?
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| 7526. |
Jon
AR
Age: 24
May 4, 2010
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LLC Ownership of Car
Recently last year my mom purchased a new Toyota for me for a graduation gift. The car was purchased mainly with her credit card and the remainder by check. The car is also registered in my name as well.
Because of these circumstances, is it beneficial for me to transfer the car to an LLC for increased privacy or is it too late since it wasn't purchased with cash?
...
Does the car have a clear title? If so, you can transfer or sell it to an LLC. Be sure you have a ghost address lined up beforehand for the LLC, of course, so you don't end up using your home address.
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| 7525. |
Tracy
Billings, Montana
Age: 16
May 4, 2010
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Nothing wrong with having my own website!
My parents won't let me have my own website (just for my friends to see) because of something you said or wrote. But that's not fair because I won't put up any naked pictures or anything, so why don't you tell parents that having your own website can be okay sometimes?
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Calm down, Tracy. Head out the door right now, to buy any newspaper dated today that carries the "Dear Abby" column. The first letter is from a husband who is writing about his wife landing a nice job but then being fired the very first day. Why? Because another applicant Googled her, found her website, and then made a formal complaint. And what was on the website? Just photos of her when she worked at a large department store as a model. "They are in no way provocative or overly revealing," writes the husband. "Photos of our children are also on the site."
Once you put up your pictures on a website, they will be still be available when you are married and starting to have your own children . Taking down the website will not help, because there are websites that can bring up web pages from years back.
I congratulate your parents on how they demonstrate their love for you by keeping you away from pitfalls while still in your teens. Some day you will thank them but not, perhaps, until you are in your 30s. (I speak from experience.)
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| 7524. |
Zula
buffalo, NY
Age: 75
May 4, 2010
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Choosing a state for privacy
During the past 20 yrs I have had driver's licenses in many states. You recommend Washington state. Upon applying for a license I was dismayed at the breach of privacy. Questions were asked as to whether I was a twin or triplet and what my mother's maiden was. The easiest state to obtain a license was in SD. At this point however I am unaware of how the "REAL-ID" act has influenced their current procedures.
...
Zula, I have NEVER, EVER recommended Washington state for a driver's license. Nor do I!
What I have said is that, for non-residents, WA is excellent because the DMV allows foreign addresses for the LLCs that own vehicles.
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| 7523. |
Tom
Cambridge, MA
Age: 43
May 4, 2010
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iPhone wiping
I don't think Apple will remotely wipe your iPhone for you, but if you subscribe to Apple's MobileMe service, you can do this yourself through a web browser. You can also locate your iPhone via GPS, lock it with a passcode, and display a message on its screen and play a sound, all remotely.
This works for the iPad as well.
Submitted Link #1: http://www.apple.com/mobileme/features/find-my-iph...
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| 7522. |
Charles
Chicago, IL
Age: 42
May 4, 2010
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Remote Phone Wipe
Being able to remotely wipe a phone is a common feature requested by corporations. Don't assume that Apple can remotely wipe ALL iPhones by this. They might, or might not have that ability. However, the corporate owner of the phone frequently has this ability. It is NOT unique to iPhones.
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| 7521. |
Fred
Los Angeles, CA
Age: 35
May 4, 2010
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CMRA Question
How far away in miles on average should your CMRA be from your real address?
...
There is of course no set rule. If you have the time, it's always good to have an address in a neighboring town or city rather than in your own.
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| 7520. |
Jeff
Athens, GA
Age: 38
May 4, 2010
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Response to police question of DL address
Here in the police state of GA, I have had two examples where a police officer has asked me if the address on my DL is current. On one occasion I told the officer that I put in an address change to a PO Box, but then he asked me "Is this the address where you sleep every night?"
If you are using a ghost address, how do you answer, or is this when you press your lips together?
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| 7519. |
Seth
collbran, co
Age: 50
May 3, 2010
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iPhones and similar devices
...When Apple discovered the loss of the phone, it remotely “wiped” out its contents... But we did learn the tastiest secret of all! Apple has remote control over iPhones."
This is actually good news, and resolves one question I've had, which is why cell phone providers cannot simply "fry" a stolen cell phone completely?
The stolen cell phone market could be wiped out literally overnight if system providers simply examined the serial number of the device (not the SIM card number, but the hard-coded device serial number) whenever it pops up on the network, and would refuse to connect the device if it's been reported stolen or lost. This would make it impossible to use a stolen cell phone, and an option similar to the system used by Ironkey could be included that would PHYSICALLY fry the processor chip and memory by short-circuiting the battery on request by the consumer, thus wiping out all data and the usability of the phone.
What we need to know is if Apple will wipe a phone for a customer on demand.
The cautionary tale here is never to put anything on your cell phone that can compromise your security in the first place.
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| 7518. |
leonard
columbia, sc
Age: 36
May 3, 2010
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HTBI & a common name for business
On page 113 of HTBI it reads..."Why not use something like M. Anderson for your mail order business". I am in a similiar situation, but i'm not sure how to collect and deposit money under a professional name. Want to keep it private but legal. Any suggestions?
Submitted Link #1: http://canaryislandspress.com/index.cfm/page/skip-...
...
A better suggestion is on page 94 of SKIP COLLEGE, where intials are used for deposits to a personal account
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| 7517. |
David
Tampa Bay Area, Florida
Age: 42
May 3, 2010
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iPhones and similar devices
Found this interesting article:
---
...When Apple discovered the loss of the phone, it remotely “wiped” out its contents, so that those contents, of course, could not be readable by the likes of technicians at Gizmodo.
At best, there was a resigned sigh over this remote wipe out. Just think of the delicious secrets we could have learned! (None.)
But we did learn the tastiest secret of all! Apple has remote control over iPhones. This includes the iPhone that you bought, that you supposedly own, on which contains a wealth of your personal information. ...
---
"In short, and obviously, the nature of ownership and privacy has changed. It will continue to do so and not in your favor. Less of what is in your possession will be legally yours, and more of what you do will be available to public scrutiny."
-----------
Submitted Link #1: http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=2324...
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| 7516. |
Paul
Winter Park, FL
Age: 48
May 2, 2010
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7514 Tiki
RENT!Do not purchase a home. Renting gives you flexibility should you decide to move again. Carry the utilities in the owner's name. Provide a cash deposit, if you must.
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| 7515. |
Fred
Los Angeles, CA
Age: 35
May 1, 2010
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Signature Stamp
Excellent blog post this week! A signature stamp from xstamperonline dot com advertises that their ink is an oil based ink, which allows for up to 50,000 impressions before re-inking. Compare that with the 5,000 impressions you can expect from a self-inking stamp. Most stamps use a water based ink which can evaporate from inside your stamp. This lessens the useful life of the stamp.
Submitted Link #1: http://www.xstamperonline.com/Signature_Stamp_Form...
...
For those few still unaware of my blog, go to:http://blog.invisible-privacy.com
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| 7514. |
Tiki
King George, VA
Age: 41
May 1, 2010
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Best Privacy State
I am looking to move from Virginia within the next year and am looking for opinions on which states are most privavcy friendly; in regards to registering vehicles, utilities, etc. I am retired so needing to find a job is not an issue. Location is very flexible, but would like somewhere inexpensive as I hope to pay cash for the new place.
...
Washington state is one of the best, as long as you title a vehicle while still a non-resident. You can then use an LLC with an address in Spain. No local address required.
Utilities are a problem in any state. The best way is to get a one-time nominee who will get everything hooked up in his or her name.
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| 7513. |
joe
Dunn TX
Age: 45
May 1, 2010
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Shred it box in office not secure
FYI my sister works at a big CPA firm in NY City.
Someone had mistakenly placed the wrong documents in one of the 3rd party type Shred it boxes in her office.
She was shocked when she found out someone in the firm had a key and opened up the cabinet door retrieved all of the contents to find what they had misplaced.
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