Personal Security:
Email AutoResponders and Google PhoneBook

We've come to expect a timely response to an email, so when people travel and won't be checking their emails they often choose to activate the AutoResponder feature, which sends back a note to the effect of --

Hi, I'll be out of the office until August 10th. If there's an emergency please contact Dana at ext 123.

These two links (which open in new windows) highlight a personal security concern:

• BBC Technology: E-mail warning for workers
• ABC News: 'Out of Office' replies May Cost You Dearly

Here's the scenario: Business owner Mary Stephens is going to Nags Head for two weeks, and doesn't want to appear unresponsive to emails. She puts an autoresponder message on her email that replies "Thanks for your email. I'm taking the kids to the beach for two weeks, and I'll be back August 15th. If something arises that can't wait, please call my assistant Jeff at 555-1212."

While she's away, somebody who gets that response looks up Mary's last name and address in the Domain Name Registry, or maybe she has a published phone number, and when she comes home her house has been burglarized.

The recommendation in these two articles is to leave very generic autoresponder messages, or instead to have all email forwarded to an assistant who can send an "out of town" message to known correspondents.

Google PhoneBook

On the top of the results page, you'll probably see an phone icon like this, along with the name and street address associated with that phone number. And it'll offer two map links to help people find the location.

There's probably a lot of legitimate applications for this, but there's also the downside of somebody who's got only your phone number coming over to your house. If you want to remove your name from the Google Phonebook database, do the search on your phone number, then click on the phone icon you'll see on the results page. That'll take you to an explanation of the service, and you'll see a link that offers to remove your data from the Google PhoneBook.

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