A few weeks ago, I received one of those emails that gets forwarded from person to person. It informed me that there is a website called zabasearch.com that allows you to locate people very easily. You can get access to names, addresses and for a fee, more personal information. I figured, my name wouldn't be on there. I checked it out and shockingly, found my name complete with my current address and every address I've ever resided at - even college. My birthdate is on there as well. I had never realized how easy it is to locate people. I pay a fee each month to have an unlisted phone number in order to not allow people to find me. Suddenly, I find out that if you want to locate people on the internet, it is even easier than thumbing through a phone book. I'm absolutely appalled by this. Who in the world came up with this brilliant idea? And I ask the person who did come up with it - what about people who don't want to be located because of security issues? I have an ex-boyfriend that I spent years trying to rid of because he was all but stalking me. Suddenly, he could show up at my front door to say hello anytime he chooses. I'm not okay with that. However, someone else seems to think that it is okay to make my private information public knowledge.

There are many websites that allow you to locate people for a small fee or for free. This is a great concept if you are using it for sincere purposes and with the best of intentions. We all know though that the world is a very scary place. To know that those scary people have access to a wealth of information is terrifying. Knowing how to locate people might sound like a great idea but may turn out to be a nightmare. I have been told that if someone doesn't want to be found, they can arrange that. Well, you shouldn't have to go to great lengths to hide and cover up your tracks. There is something called privacy and to invade it is just absurd. I am not picking on those sites that allow you to locate people that don't mind being found. However, if I'm paying a monthly fee to avoid being placed in the phone book, don't publicize my information.

The email that I received about zabasearch.com said that if I wanted my information removed, email them. I did that. I checked two days later and I was still on the site. I emailed them again. And again. After emailing them requesting that I be removed for the sixth time, I got pretty angry. I suppose there's not too much I can do about it. Nowadays, we have to accept the fact that it is easy to locate people. Heck, we can pay some fees and locate people that probably don't want to be located. It makes me want to change my name and move to the jungle somewhere. Somehow though, someone would still find me.