What does your government think of your right to privacy? Truly, these days with administration proposals to restrict the use of encryption and rumblings about restricting freedom of speech on the net, it's a valid question. Well, to get a good idea of exactly how much the state of Texas respects your right to personal privacy, you might want to check out the web site at PublicLink.
It is a yet another web-based search engine, but with a rather unique twist. Instead of looking up phone numbers or other such mundane things, the database it calls upon is one provided by the State of Texas Department of Public Safety. Apparently the state has been selling this database for some time to any sleazy organization with the money they are asking for it. This database contains the names and addresses of every single person with a Texas drivers license. Now, just providing the names and addresses is not enough for the the Department of Public Safety, they also are nice enough to include the rest of the information that is found on a drivers license as well. For instance, they also include your height, weight, eye color, hair color, the date of the last transaction made with the DPS, and reason for it. In addition to all that, they also are gracious enough to provide your drivers license number as well. Isn't that nice of them?
But wait! There's more! If you click on the address provided it will show you a list of all the people living at that address who happen to have a license. I'm sure all the fathers out there will be thrilled to hear that the State of Texas thinks nothing about selling the name and address of their 16 year old daughters to anyone who wants to have it.
As if all that were not enough, they also apparently sell a database of motor vehicle registrations. Yes, that's right! All you need to do now is cut someone off in traffic and the fine people at PublicLink, courtesy of the State of Texas, will provide you with a name and address to go along with that license plate number!
Also currently available at this web site is voter registration information for Dallas county. I don't know why they only have Dallas County on line, but I'm sure they are working on securing the rest of the state. This database lets you find out if and when people last voted, and in what party's primary. Know any prominent democrats who you think might have voted in the republican primary? Well, now you can find out. I'm sure we'll soon be able to discover who they voted for as well. You can be sure that if there is a buck in it, the great State of Texas will find a way.
Coming soon to the PublicLink web site, "TexasArrestLink", "EvictionLink", "CivilCourtLink", "PropertyOwnerLink", and "MarriageRecordLink". I kid you not. Check it out for yourself. Go to www.publiclink.com, and look up the drivers license of George Herbert Bush. His wife Barbara is there too, but it appears that there might have been a slight typo somewhere on her information. It seems that Phil Gramm does not have a Texas driver's license.
Those of you who are reading this who live in, or think you may someday live in Texas, might want to check into this. Call your state representatives and let them know what you think of their respect for your privacy. Call the Department of "Public Safety" (they are selling your personal information to anyone who asks for it, and they call themselves "public safety?").
Those of you who do not live in Texas might want to find out if your state sells this type of information as well. If there isn't a PublicLink site in your state, and they do, there soon will be.
One final comment, the "President of PublicLink" has an email address. It is LinkPLC@AOL.COM.
Why am I not suprised it is an AOL address?
Permission to distribute freely granted providing byline is intact.
Alan Pugh (zeugma@pobox.com)
AEN News