TexasCHLforum.com

Is the government in league with spammers?

The reason I ask is because my home address is on my government documents but nowhere else. All my correspondence, including credit cards and other financial accounts, go to a private mailbox. Nobody except family and the government have my home address, but somehow I get junk mail addressed to me at home.

I'm seriously thinking of changing my DL, CHL, etc. to my private mailbox when I move, because it looks like the government can't be trusted with my personal information.

I don't think that has anything to do with it since the USPS as well as private data mining companies will sell lists of addresses for bulk mailing purposes. I guess you could go as far as to say that the USPS is in league with "Spammers", though that would be a bit far fetched, in my opinion.

Have you considered following some of these steps to reduce junk mail? http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/wpw/home/junkmail.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; It's a California state gov't site, but the suggestions work in every state.

snorri:

I can sympathize with you on this issue, but I believe both your DL and CHL require your
actual physical address. My main address is a PO Box, but that doesn't mean that I don't have
to check the box at my physical address often to keep it cleaned out.

You are correct that the Texas gummint is in league with the spammers. The State of Texas
makes money on an ongoing basis by providing the database of Texas DL's to whoever's got the
scratch to buy it.

The article in which I read this did not have any further detail as to which
companies/organizations are buying this list, or whether they can custom tailor the amount of
DL data they receive.

SIA

It's a good idea to use an alternate address on your government documents, because they absolutely have no security protecting your personal information. After the stalker incident, I refuse to give them the address where I sleep. Maybe the cops don't like that, but they were useless where the stalker was concerned so I don't care what they like. They proved I'm the only one who will protect me. Keeping my private information private is a vital line of defense.

Did you purchase a home? If so, your info is out there.

There are ways around that. No security is perfect but you can avoid being an easy target.

If anyone has your address in their e-mail address book, you can get spammed. Pulling data from address books is one of the prime directives of bots and trojans.

How does an email address link to a house or apartment address?