Your personal data may be at risk…. 

It’s been a while because I’ve been extremely busy with work and school but I’m taking a break from all that you provide you with a very important message…. your personal data, including actual birth date may be posted on the following site: www.voterrecords.com.

While some of the information may be considered public record, like your actual address and phone number, some of the information, I feel, should remain private.  In Florida all property owner’s parcel/address is public information and easily searchable on each county’s property appraiser’s website.  If you know the person’s name and they own a home, you can easily figure out where they live.  If you drive by a house and you want to know who lives there, you can easily search based on the address  You can even tell if a person is behind on property taxes for example, but information such as birth date and telephone number is not available.

Unfortunately, the same can not be said for this voter records site.  They provide information such as:

Age

Birth Date

Telephone Number

Gender

Race

Address

Party Affiliation

Along specific voting precinct, congressional district, senate district, etc.

Related voters

While I believe some of the information is probably harmless, the fact that the site clearly publishes a person’s birth date is wrong.  A birth date allows scammers to get one step closer to being able to steal one’s identity.  Match a birth date up with a social security number or a credit card it is nearly impossible to stop.

The good news…. well, partially since I have no clue how long the information has been available on the site, is that you can Opt-Out and the non-public information will be removed.  Additionally, there are only a few states that are participating so most people are unaffected.  If you live in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah or Washington (or have registered to vote in one of these states), I suggest that you look yourself up and then Opt-Out.

To Opt-Out, simply search for your name.  Click on your name to view details.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the link to Record Opt-Out.  Once you click on that link, you will be asked for an e-mail address.  Give a valid e-mail address (maybe create one just for this event so you will not get spammed in the future) as you will get an e-mail that will require you to respond to in order to fully complete the Opt-Out.

I actually believe “Opt-Out” should not be an option, rather I believe if someone or some group wants to publish information about me, the default should be that I do not want information plastered over the internet, and in order for them to publish my information, they should be getting my permission via an “Opt-In” button.  I know that will be more difficult for them to compile and publish all the information they want, but I think it’s only right that I have control of my information.

While it doesn’t bother me personally that someone can look me up and determine my party affiliation, I do have a problem with bad people knowing my birth date.  Fraud is rampant, and while some fraud may be easier to see, other scams are not.  Just recently I read an article where a person actually put over $1,700 on iTunes cards as they received a call from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) demanding payment.  In my eyes this is an obvious scam, I mean what is the IRS going to do with iTunes cards?  Play Pokemon?  Buy songs for the music that plays during your 20 minute wait on the telephone line?  But some people, in the heat of the moment and under pressure, give in.  A scammer knowing a person’s birth date is one step closer to authenticating their fraud. Just the society that we live in today; sad, but true.

Oh, and for those that are tempted to look me up and determine my party affiliation, I will just tell you that I have been a Republican since I first registered to vote when I was in high school. There was a time that I voted straight along party lines, when I was in Indiana for example.  It was super easy, just with one click of a button my entire voting card would light up based on the ticket of choice Republican/Democrat or if I was so inclined, I could take the extra minutes to read each candidate’s name and select individually.  I was young and wasn’t into politics like many younger people are today (not that I’m big into politics now).

In Florida, Pinellas County is much more difficult.  Now I have to take a black pen and fill in the ovals for each person I want to vote for.  No automatic selection of party.  While this site does provide my party affiliation, it does not provide my actual voting history; that is something I think should remain private.  Ultimately, even though I am a registered Republican, I have the right to vote for any candidate I want regardless of affiliation.  That’s just one of the perks of being an American.  My choice in 2016 will be either the:

for those reading into the order in which the democrat/republican pictures are posted, don’t, they are place in alphabetical order.