Darwin Deason, I have a confession ...
ATTN:
DARWIN DEASON, Founder
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
January 23, 2007
Dear Darwin,
I have a confession to make. I found your social security number online.
The confession part, and I'm not proud to admit this, is that I actually debated on whether to post it online because after all, it is "public record" and I know how you feel about those blessed public records. Sanctity and all that. Fast and easy, instant access, worldwide!
But what's important to me and what's important to you seem to be worlds apart. It would have been easy to throw you under the bus just to watch your people (and I'm fairly certain you have 'people') bolt into action to protect you and your assets. See, I don't have People. ( Imagine what I could accomplish with People!) Neither does the rest of the world. For most folks, we're it; the only shield of protection to guarantee their records aren't exposed to the world. Of course today I worked just for you and all for free. When's the last time that happened?
Speaking of a shield between ordinary people and danger, did you know that our law enforcement community is also exposed? The same folks who have to go out to work every day with a gun on their hip now have to worry about one of the prior arrests showing up at their home. We're all so forward-thinking that one of our commissioners, when made aware of that situation here in Charlotte, said he would have to think long and hard before making exceptions even for the police department. (Dang. Hope he doesn't have to call in soon.)
But back to the confession. It's true, when I began searching it was with hope that I would find identifying information that may make you stop and think. An unexpected thing happened, though. It made me just as sad to see your life exposed as the hundreds of other folks without even a fraction of your wealth. I actually worried that some nut may come after you like the one who killed Rebecca Shaeffer after a private investigator found her address through the digitized DMV records. Or the one who stalked and killed Amy Boyer after a databroker found her information online.
Have you been to any of the big box office supply stores lately? You can pick up a pack of deeds in there for less than ten dollars. Anyone with a computer can go home, copy and paste your signature on the dotted line (found copies of that, too), record it, and you would end up asking permission to go in your own house to argue with them. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? But it's happening all over. Oklahoma, Florida, Ohio, even Canada. James and Paula Cooke found themselves locked out of their $300,000 home in Denton County, Texas. The thieves who stole their home may have found everything they needed on the county website. Mrs Cooke's maiden name (the home was in her maiden name), her driver's license number and signature were available, all courtesy of services your company provides the county.
The information found in your documents could have made my life a lot easier, I gotta tell you, Darwin. As you can imagine, my name isn't exactly revered in the title industry any more and orders are slow as molasses. But with your information (or one of your wives' - did I mention I found theirs, too?) I could have ordered any number of credit cards, jewelry, more computers, driven out of a showroom with a shiny new Benz (the Chevy really is on it's last leg), and all while wearing that copper colored sweater I've been dreaming of with the black seed pearls.
But I didn't. Because it isn't the right thing to do. The right thing to do is create a super-highway that's equally responsible. You're a smart man with a world of influence. You could do such a thing and be hailed as the Patriot of the Century. Won't you at least think about it? In the meantime, send me a note and I'll be happy to check your records free of charge, same as we do for every other American every day. Or, you could ask your People to start searching and maybe, just maybe the state where I found them will have passed a redaction law by then and allow you to remove the offending information. Then again, it may be too late. Jeb Bush redacted his from a county website but today, the number can be found on websites all over the world.
Love,
Jan
ps - Do you know anything about using eBay?
www.FindMyID.com
DARWIN DEASON, Founder
Affiliated Computer Services, Inc.
Dallas, Texas
January 23, 2007
Dear Darwin,
I have a confession to make. I found your social security number online.
The confession part, and I'm not proud to admit this, is that I actually debated on whether to post it online because after all, it is "public record" and I know how you feel about those blessed public records. Sanctity and all that. Fast and easy, instant access, worldwide!
But what's important to me and what's important to you seem to be worlds apart. It would have been easy to throw you under the bus just to watch your people (and I'm fairly certain you have 'people') bolt into action to protect you and your assets. See, I don't have People. ( Imagine what I could accomplish with People!) Neither does the rest of the world. For most folks, we're it; the only shield of protection to guarantee their records aren't exposed to the world. Of course today I worked just for you and all for free. When's the last time that happened?
Speaking of a shield between ordinary people and danger, did you know that our law enforcement community is also exposed? The same folks who have to go out to work every day with a gun on their hip now have to worry about one of the prior arrests showing up at their home. We're all so forward-thinking that one of our commissioners, when made aware of that situation here in Charlotte, said he would have to think long and hard before making exceptions even for the police department. (Dang. Hope he doesn't have to call in soon.)
But back to the confession. It's true, when I began searching it was with hope that I would find identifying information that may make you stop and think. An unexpected thing happened, though. It made me just as sad to see your life exposed as the hundreds of other folks without even a fraction of your wealth. I actually worried that some nut may come after you like the one who killed Rebecca Shaeffer after a private investigator found her address through the digitized DMV records. Or the one who stalked and killed Amy Boyer after a databroker found her information online.
Have you been to any of the big box office supply stores lately? You can pick up a pack of deeds in there for less than ten dollars. Anyone with a computer can go home, copy and paste your signature on the dotted line (found copies of that, too), record it, and you would end up asking permission to go in your own house to argue with them. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? But it's happening all over. Oklahoma, Florida, Ohio, even Canada. James and Paula Cooke found themselves locked out of their $300,000 home in Denton County, Texas. The thieves who stole their home may have found everything they needed on the county website. Mrs Cooke's maiden name (the home was in her maiden name), her driver's license number and signature were available, all courtesy of services your company provides the county.
The information found in your documents could have made my life a lot easier, I gotta tell you, Darwin. As you can imagine, my name isn't exactly revered in the title industry any more and orders are slow as molasses. But with your information (or one of your wives' - did I mention I found theirs, too?) I could have ordered any number of credit cards, jewelry, more computers, driven out of a showroom with a shiny new Benz (the Chevy really is on it's last leg), and all while wearing that copper colored sweater I've been dreaming of with the black seed pearls.
But I didn't. Because it isn't the right thing to do. The right thing to do is create a super-highway that's equally responsible. You're a smart man with a world of influence. You could do such a thing and be hailed as the Patriot of the Century. Won't you at least think about it? In the meantime, send me a note and I'll be happy to check your records free of charge, same as we do for every other American every day. Or, you could ask your People to start searching and maybe, just maybe the state where I found them will have passed a redaction law by then and allow you to remove the offending information. Then again, it may be too late. Jeb Bush redacted his from a county website but today, the number can be found on websites all over the world.
Love,
Jan
ps - Do you know anything about using eBay?
www.FindMyID.com
posted by Happy at 8:20 PM
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