American website Zabasearch.com, a personal-data search engine, faces continuing criticism concerning information privacy. Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the US against which the government has been unable to provide effective ways to control the traffic of personal information.
Stefek Zaba from Bristol, who has no connection what so ever with the site, has been annoyed with hundreds of emails and requests from people who are after Zabasearch. Mr. Zaba has set up his own website criticising the search engine. He argues that ”their operation is a gross and flagrant violation of US residents’ reasonable expectations of privacy, and of the internationally endorsed principles on privacy and fair information handling.”
Launched earlier this year, the site embodies everything that is frightening and great about the internet. The website allows users to find out personal details of citizens in the US such as phone numbers and addresses. In addition, for a tiny fee you can get a satellite picture of the person’s home, directions on how to get there, background checks and criminal history.
ZabaSearch founders believe that their service is a step towards data democratisation. Robert Zakari, president of Zabasearch, said that “Personal information in the U.S. is a multibillion-dollar-a-year industry. People realising that right now as a result of stumbling on ZabaSearch may find that shocking, but the data has been out there for years. It’s just a question of who has access.”