HAM privacy question

[Heebie Jeebies]

I just passed my Tech a few weeks ago and will take the General next week. I noticed that anyone can look up your name and address by your call sign. I’m surprised that in this day and age the gubmint would be posting that information.

Does anyone know if there is a way to suppress that personal info from the FCC web site?

[TacAir]

If you find out, let us all know. I've not seen anything.

Public records are, well, public.

[Rebel Pariah]

anyone can look up your name and address by your call sign

not to be all hardcore OP-SEC, and start with the tinfoil hattery, but no bueno

this makes me almost not want to get my ham.....almost

[KJ4VOV]

I just passed my Tech a few weeks ago and will take the General next week. I noticed that anyone can look up your name and address by your call sign. I’m surprised that in this day and age the gubmint would be posting that information.

Does anyone know if there is a way to suppress that personal info from the FCC web site?

Federal law requires that it be public because the radio spectrum is a public resource.

[MaconCJ7]

Give them your mother in laws address. You'll still get your license, she'll get whatever else.

[Tater Raider]

Are you required to give your home address or your mailing address, because if it's the later you can get a PO Box and problem solved.

[KJ4VOV]

Are you required to give your home address or your mailing address, because if it's the later you can get a PO Box and problem solved.

The 605 form only requests a mailing address, and will accept a P.O. Box

[Heebie Jeebies]

Are you required to give your home address or your mailing address, because if it's the later you can get a PO Box and problem solved.

The 605 form only requests a mailing address, and will accept a P.O. Box

That's the ticket! Thanks.

[TacAir]

anyone can look up your name and address by your call sign

not to be all hardcore OP-SEC, and start with the tinfoil hattery, but no bueno

this makes me almost not want to get my ham.....almost

LOL

Look your name up on Spokeo - you might just be surprised....

[MaconCJ7]

Spokeo makes me happy. My wife and I apparently haven't existed for almost 4 years. And I'm my own relative if you can believe that.

[TacAir]

Spokeo makes me happy. My wife and I apparently haven't existed for almost 4 years. And I'm my own relative if you can believe that.

On Spokeo, almost anything is possible.

They will pull your data if you email the site. Oddly, what they do could be considered illegal in some States.

[KJ4VOV]

It's funny just how much Spokeo gets wrong, or outright misses.

[zommoz10]

Are you required to give your home address or your mailing address, because if it's the later you can get a PO Box and problem solved.

wellllll..... not so fast.

The ULS will still show a license modification with the old address details in it.

I'd start out with a PO Box to begin if you're concerned about security.
Notice I said "security" and not "privacy"?

This really isn't so much about privacy concern as it is a common sense security. Gotta love when someone goes out over the air from their vehicle and starts blabbing about all this high dollar gear they got at home in the shack but they're stuck in traffic and the wife and kids are out of town with the in-laws. You might as well tie a big red bow on the house and include a massive birthday card for the first robber that gets there.


Yeah... and spokeo... talk about another company that needs to get sued into non-existence.

[KJ4VOV]

Are you required to give your home address or your mailing address, because if it's the later you can get a PO Box and problem solved.

wellllll..... not so fast.

The ULS will still show a license modification with the old address details in it.

I'd start out with a PO Box to begin if you're concerned about security.
Notice I said "security" and not "privacy"?

This really isn't so much about privacy concern as it is a common sense security. Gotta love when someone goes out over the air from their vehicle and starts blabbing about all this high dollar gear they got at home in the shack but they're stuck in traffic and the wife and kids are out of town with the in-laws. You might as well tie a big red bow on the house and include a massive birthday card for the first robber that gets there.


Yeah... and spokeo... talk about another company that needs to get sued into non-existence.

Of course, just because no one is home does not mean the house is unsecure. Take mine for example...

[Rebel Pariah]

anyone can look up your name and address by your call sign

not to be all hardcore OP-SEC, and start with the tinfoil hattery, but no bueno

this makes me almost not want to get my ham.....almost

LOL

Look your name up on Spokeo - you might just be surprised....

Nothing popped.... maybe I'm just unloved

[Tater Raider]

Evidently I live in 10 states, niether of which I currently live in, and there are 16 of me in Iowa.

EtA: There is actually a guy with the same first and last name as me here. No big deal except my name isn't exactly common. Weird.

[BlueSilkRibbon]

Even better...callsign vanity plates on your car. I look up people all the time whilst driving down the road . Pull up to a stop light and say "Hi Bob! How is everyting at 326 Maple St?. But hey thats just me.

[KJ4VOV]

Even better...callsign vanity plates on your car. I look people all the time whilst driving down the road . Pull up to a stop light and say "Hi Bob! How is everyting at 326 Maple St?. But hey thats just me.

In quite a few states you can just request and abstract of the registration from the DMV with nothing more than the plate number. Usually a small fee involved.

[zommoz10]

In quite a few states you can just request and abstract of the registration from the DMV with nothing more than the plate number. Usually a small fee involved.

Huhh?
I don't understand.

My state used to offer an incentive to get the ham tag now they are one of the most expensive.
If I was in TN, I'd get one because the tags say "emergency" on them but yeah I don't like making it easy for every person that ever objects with my driving to know who I am and where I live.

[Heebie Jeebies]

Are you required to give your home address or your mailing address, because if it's the later you can get a PO Box and problem solved.

wellllll..... not so fast.

The ULS will still show a license modification with the old address details in it.

I'd start out with a PO Box to begin if you're concerned about security.
Notice I said "security" and not "privacy"?

This really isn't so much about privacy concern as it is a common sense security. Gotta love when someone goes out over the air from their vehicle and starts blabbing about all this high dollar gear they got at home in the shack but they're stuck in traffic and the wife and kids are out of town with the in-laws. You might as well tie a big red bow on the house and include a massive birthday card for the first robber that gets there.


Yeah... and spokeo... talk about another company that needs to get sued into non-existence.

It looks like they show the last address so to get your street address off the site it would have to be changed twice. That’s not hard to do but it’s a pain just to be able to keep your address private. Had I realized the gubmint would be posting personal information on their web site I would have gotten a po box before I took my test.

The gubmint can be so helpful sometimes.

[KJ4VOV]

In quite a few states you can just request and abstract of the registration from the DMV with nothing more than the plate number. Usually a small fee involved.

Huhh?
I don't understand.

My state used to offer an incentive to get the ham tag now they are one of the most expensive.
If I was in TN, I'd get one because the tags say "emergency" on them but yeah I don't like making it easy for every person that ever objects with my driving to know who I am and where I live.

An abstract is a copy of the registration for a vehicle listing the owner's name and address. Many states allow you to request one through the DMV. The stated purpose is so that you can contact another driver for reasons such as returning something that fell from a vehicle, as a possible witness to something, minor parking lot bumps and scrapes, etc.

Here's a link to the NYS DMV site with information about it: http://www.dmv.ny.gov/abstract.htm

So, you see, ham plate or not, the info is still fairly easy to get.

[KJ4VOV]

Are you required to give your home address or your mailing address, because if it's the later you can get a PO Box and problem solved.

wellllll..... not so fast.

The ULS will still show a license modification with the old address details in it.

I'd start out with a PO Box to begin if you're concerned about security.
Notice I said "security" and not "privacy"?

This really isn't so much about privacy concern as it is a common sense security. Gotta love when someone goes out over the air from their vehicle and starts blabbing about all this high dollar gear they got at home in the shack but they're stuck in traffic and the wife and kids are out of town with the in-laws. You might as well tie a big red bow on the house and include a massive birthday card for the first robber that gets there.


Yeah... and spokeo... talk about another company that needs to get sued into non-existence.

It looks like they show the last address so to get your street address off the site it would have to be changed twice. That’s not hard to do but it’s a pain just to be able to keep your address private. Had I realized the gubmint would be posting personal information on their web site I would have gotten a po box before I took my test.

The gubmint can be so helpful sometimes.

I'm a VE, and I've pushed for that information to be stressed in the training materials and possibly even in the element 2 test questions (since that would, by necessity, make it included in the study materials). (ie: "What information about an amateur radio licensee is publicly available on the FCC web site?" A) Name, mailing address, type of equipment; B) Name and license class; C) Name, mailing address and license class; D) No information about a license holder is available to the general public) So far, I have not had any luck with this.

[zommoz10]

In quite a few states you can just request and abstract of the registration from the DMV with nothing more than the plate number. Usually a small fee involved.

Huhh?
I don't understand.

My state used to offer an incentive to get the ham tag now they are one of the most expensive.
If I was in TN, I'd get one because the tags say "emergency" on them but yeah I don't like making it easy for every person that ever objects with my driving to know who I am and where I live.

An abstract is a copy of the registration for a vehicle listing the owner's name and address. Many states allow you to request one through the DMV. The stated purpose is so that you can contact another driver for reasons such as returning something that fell from a vehicle, as a possible witness to something, minor parking lot bumps and scrapes, etc.

Here's a link to the NYS DMV site with information about it: http://www.dmv.ny.gov/abstract.htm

So, you see, ham plate or not, the info is still fairly easy to get.

O.
I. C.
That's still a giant pain in the ass compared to going to the FCC ULS. And it costs munniez!

[Heebie Jeebies]

Are you required to give your home address or your mailing address, because if it's the later you can get a PO Box and problem solved.

wellllll..... not so fast.

The ULS will still show a license modification with the old address details in it.

I'd start out with a PO Box to begin if you're concerned about security.
Notice I said "security" and not "privacy"?

This really isn't so much about privacy concern as it is a common sense security. Gotta love when someone goes out over the air from their vehicle and starts blabbing about all this high dollar gear they got at home in the shack but they're stuck in traffic and the wife and kids are out of town with the in-laws. You might as well tie a big red bow on the house and include a massive birthday card for the first robber that gets there.


Yeah... and spokeo... talk about another company that needs to get sued into non-existence.

It looks like they show the last address so to get your street address off the site it would have to be changed twice. That’s not hard to do but it’s a pain just to be able to keep your address private. Had I realized the gubmint would be posting personal information on their web site I would have gotten a po box before I took my test.

The gubmint can be so helpful sometimes.

I'm a VE, and I've pushed for that information to be stressed in the training materials and possibly even in the element 2 test questions (since that would, by necessity, make it included in the study materials). (ie: "What information about an amateur radio licensee is publicly available on the FCC web site?" A) Name, mailing address, type of equipment; B) Name and license class; C) Name, mailing address and license class; D) No information about a license holder is available to the general public) So far, I have not had any luck with this.

Well thanks for trying anyway, maybe someday they will get with it.

I just found out that a local po box near will cost me $52/yr. yikes!