Privacy Invasion: zabasearch.com

egotist · Post by **egotist** » 4/20/2005, 1:31 pm

Has anyone heard of this site?

Apparently, it culls the public data hosted on US government websites and collates them into a formatted list of results.

Most US residents/citizens have loads of information available publicly, that they don't even know about.

Check this article from the San Francisco Gate or go to http://www.zabasearch.com , you'd be surprised what you can find.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... C8U341.DTL

SFGate: It's impressive, scary to see what a Zaba search can do

Everything that's great and everything that's frightening about the Internet can be summed up in a single word.

Zaba.

That's Zaba as in ZabaSearch.com, a so-called people search site that allows you to quickly track down the whereabouts of just about anyone, free of charge.

There are already numerous people search resources online, varying widely in reliability and fees.

(There's also an interesting story about the people behind ZabaSearch and the notorious mass suicide in Southern California involving the Heaven's Gate cult. But we'll get back to that.)

What makes ZabaSearch great is that, at no cost, it quickly and comprehensively places a remarkable amount of data about people right at your fingertips.

What makes ZabaSearch frightening is that, at no cost, it quickly and comprehensively places a remarkable amount of data about people right at your fingertips.

"It's extremely troubling," said Gail Hillebrand, a staff attorney with Consumers Union in San Francisco.

"It's a fundamental invasion of privacy because they've put all these records together and give them away for nothing instead of keeping them separate and making people pay to get them."

Robert Zakari, ZabaSearch's president, told me the service was quietly unveiled on Feb. 28 without any marketing or publicity. All traffic since then has been exclusively through word of mouth.

Once people discover the site, Zakari said, they typically begin hunting for old girlfriends or boyfriends, former classmates or military pals.

"It's all about making contact," he said. "It's addictive."

It's also in the eyes of some a threat to people's privacy and safety.

"Think what this could mean for anyone with a stalker problem or a restraining-order issue," said Hillebrand at Consumers Union.

But Zakari countered that ZabaSearch represents only "a natural evolution of technology."

"I don't discount the concern some people might have about this," he said. "But people should be aware of what's out there about them."

ZabaSearch certainly helps with this. You enter a name and, if you know which one, a state. ZabaSearch rapidly combs through a mix of public records - - it won't specify which ones -- and comes up with lists of exact and close matches.

If you enter Zakari's name and California, you'll learn that he was born in 1970 and lives at 23453 Park Colombo in Calabasas (Los Angeles County). His current phone number is unavailable.

Clicking on Zakari's name takes you to a new page where you can run additional searches using other search engines.

Clicking on his address takes you to a page where you can access a map and satellite photo of Zakari's house, as well as a five-day weather forecast for his neighborhood.

A free Yahoo People Search, by contrast, turns up only a former residence and phone number for Zakari. But Yahoo links to a separate search service, Intelius, that'll tell you his actual whereabouts for $7.95.

"The most basic thing you can do on the Internet is contact other people, " Zakari said. "Why does that have to cost something like $10? We're giving it away. It's an experiment, an amazing experiment."

Maybe so. But it's also a business. ZabaSearch buys and gives away basic personal data as a loss leader to induce visitors to purchase more comprehensive background checks for $20 each.

The company charges $100 for even more in-depth searches, with a money- back guarantee if the person sought doesn't turn up.

It also carries a paid link to Experian, the credit-reporting agency, to obtain a free credit report. (This will automatically sign you up as well for Experian's credit-monitoring program, which will cost $9.95 a month unless you opt out after a 30-day trial period.)

At this point, Zakari said ZabaSearch is surviving month to month.

The site tells visitors: "If you have enjoyed use of this very valuable database, we ask that you submit a voluntary payment in order to keep ZabaSearch.com online so you and others can continue to benefit from this great free service."

It adds that ZabaSearch's resources were donated by another search provider, PeopleData.com, which "has agreed to provide unlimited guaranteed access to the ZabaSearch database through Dec. 31, 2005, to anyone who submits a payment to support ZabaSearch.com."

That's misleading. It turns out that Zakari is president of both ZabaSearch and PeopleData. His business partner, Nicholas Matzorkis, a dot-com millionaire, serves as chairman of both companies.

Moreover, ZabaSearch and PeopleData share the same address, ostensibly a suite in a Simi Valley (Ventura County) office building. The address, however, is actually a mailbox at a postal company called Advanced Mail and Parcel Services.

Zakari insisted that ZabaSearch and PeopleData are separate entities, so there's nothing inappropriate about soliciting payments from visitors to support the "donated" technology.

He also said use of a post office box is common for businesses that receive a lot of correspondence, which he said is the case with both ZabaSearch and PeopleData.

Meanwhile, there's the Heaven's Gate connection.

You remember Heaven's Gate. Thirty-nine members of the Southern California cult committed suicide together in 1997. They apparently believed this would allow them to rendezvous with a UFO hiding behind the Hale-Bopp comet.

The bodies of the cultists, who had funded their activities with computer work, were discovered in a mansion near San Diego by a former Heaven's Gate member, Richard Ford, who'd been sent a videotape by cult leaders explaining their rationale for mass suicide.

At the time, Ford was working as a Web designer for a Beverly Hills computer company owned by ZabaSearch's Matzorkis. About a dozen cult members reportedly had worked for Matzorkis at various times.

Matzorkis couldn't be reached for comment by e-mail or through Zakari.

But according to news reports, he drove Ford to the mansion to check on the cult's circumstances. He reportedly waited in the car while Ford went inside.

"They did it," Newsweek quoted Ford as saying as he returned to the car.

"Did it smell?" Matzorkis was quoted as replying.

It was Matzorkis who subsequently insisted that the San Diego Sheriff's Department be notified.

Zakari, who was working with Matzorkis at the time, served as Ford's lawyer after the bodies were found.

Neither Matzorkis nor Zakari was a Heaven's Gate member.

Nevertheless, Matzorkis quickly negotiated a deal for ABC to make a TV movie about Heaven's Gate. It never got off the ground. He also gave numerous interviews to reporters about finding the bodies.

According to press reports, Matzorkis was briefly jailed a few weeks after the Heaven's Gate story broke when Ohio authorities recognized him on TV.

He was on probation for a 1989 auto theft outside Cleveland, to which he had pleaded no contest. Matzorkis allegedly had failed to check in with a probation officer in California and hadn't completed his court-ordered community service.

Zakari told me that it was all a misunderstanding and that Matzorkis later had the conviction expunged -- a legal process whereby an individual's records are sealed from public scrutiny.

Mark Lime, director of the criminal division of Ohio's Cuyahoga County court clerk's office, was unable to find any record of Matzorkis' conviction, indicating that the files had indeed been expunged.

But he said this doesn't mean the conviction was overturned or in any way reversed.

"All it means is that this was likely a first-time offender who qualified for sealing his record," Lime said. "You still have the conviction, but nobody can know about it."

Zakari called the Heaven's Gate episode "one of the greatest, weirdest and most interesting times of our lives." But he said Matzorkis' role in the matter was exaggerated by the media.

"He did a favor for an employee and ended up on CNN," Zakari said. "That's all it was."

As for ZabaSearch, he said the service will soon undergo changes. He declined to detail what those changes will include.

"We will become a destination site for people interested in data," Zakari offered. "But I'm not going to give away our business model."

ZabaSearch says people can have their info removed from the company's database by e-mailing their name, birth date, address and phone number to info@zabasearch.com.

However, the company also says in its terms and conditions that it "does not guarantee that the information will not be available again in the future from other sources or ZabaSearch itself," thus making the opt-out process virtually meaningless.

Like I say, everything that's great and frightening about the Internet. Right there.

David Lazarus' column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He also can be seen regularly on KTVU's "Mornings on 2." Send tips or feedback to dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.

nikki4982 · Post by **nikki4982** » 4/21/2005, 9:58 am

Well... I don't exist! :nana:

There was another search that wasn't really much different from this that I found a while ago. I don't see how this site's any more "intrusive" than the others... if someone was a serious stalker, they'd pay the small fee the other ones charge to get your info, anyway.

laurel · Post by **laurel** » 4/21/2005, 4:01 pm

or, if they were a seriously lazy stalker, they'd command your phone number on a message board, lando-style.

nikki4982 · Post by **nikki4982** » 4/21/2005, 9:37 pm

Henrietta · Post by **Henrietta** » 4/22/2005, 3:02 am

All you have to do is type your name into google and come up with the same info.

Soozy · Post by **Soozy** » 4/22/2005, 1:28 pm

ooooh *wonders if this is like the other stalking site I use but with all the info that makes you pay for*

not that I've ever done any stalking ever

:eek:

Soozy · Post by **Soozy** » 4/22/2005, 1:30 pm

Hmmm .. looks like it is. Though I think some of their information's wrong.

Henrietta · Post by **Henrietta** » 4/22/2005, 1:34 pm

Yeah, my mom's info is wrong.

Soozy · Post by **Soozy** » 4/22/2005, 1:44 pm

:O I found Cain's phone no.

Henrietta · Post by **Henrietta** » 4/22/2005, 1:58 pm

Ohhh....let's call Michelle and torture her! Or...uh...

Post by **faninor** » 4/22/2005, 2:07 pm

Soozy wrote::O I found Cain's phone no.

:O It is there! :lol:

xoNoDoubt69 · Post by **xoNoDoubt69** » 4/22/2005, 3:13 pm

they have all my old information correct :O

Dr. Hobo · Post by **Dr. Hobo** » 4/22/2005, 5:17 pm

they have my dads info but not me

nikki4982 · Post by **nikki4982** » 4/22/2005, 5:21 pm

Soozy wrote:ooooh *wonders if this is like the other stalking site I use but with all the info that makes you pay for*

not that I've ever done any stalking ever

It is.

faninor wrote:
Soozy wrote::O I found Cain's phone no.

:O It is there!

It was on another one, too... it's probably the same lady's house we made Melissa call at the meetup. :lol:

Bandalero · Post by **Bandalero** » 4/24/2005, 1:00 am

it's funny. i don't exist, but both my brothers do.

in fact they have my dad down three times, with my current phone number, my old La Pryor number, and what looks to be my old Mirando City number.