Quite right, and I would suggest that it is somewhat naive to think otherwise!

Yeah, pretty sure people who live off the grid are the smartest. Technology is too easily manipulated for nefarious purposes, it's just not good. And because it occurs in silence and is unseen we just go along like the sheep that we all are.

@Flowerwall I am not talking about living off the grid. I am talking about knowing where we are going, what to expect and how to be careful about getting ourselves into. Facebook is a big example of dropping your pants in public knowing fully well that somebody is behind when you bend over but people are doing it everywhere after the Cambridge Analytica and other blow ups.

@St-Sinner And what about THIS website? You can can sign in here with Facebook or Google. What amount of data sharing goes on here whether it is done with innocent or malicious intent? How much does it cavort with the Hydra?

@Flowerwall Facebook needs real names and validation, connects to family and friends to collect data. This site only has your e-mail and allows avatar like mine.

@St-Sinner Yeah until this website gets hacked, then it's all out there. And I apologize to the people who created this site if they are indeed good people with good intentions, but it's just something you have to question. You realize in order to be online safely you need to have a PhD in cybersecurity and even then your data will still get leaked by government, financial institutions, healthcare and everybody else I just left out.

@Flowerwall Why this site? Our banks, credit unions, social security, retirement funds, IRA managers, HOAs, mortgage companies, builders, airlines, credit card companies, credit report agencies, Amazon and other shoppers, escorts all have our information. Where do you want to opt out first?

You do not need deep knowledge and you do not need to understand everything. Just following the plenty of advice about e-mail scams, phishing, downloading stuff is enough. Preventing hacking is beyond user control. Online security is getting better every year. This is the new world of the electronic revolution. Make use of good things and take the bus. Similar things happened with industrial revolution 100 years ago. People's lives were turned upside down. But we emerged as more efficient and productive societies.

@St-Sinner Not just this site, EVERY site. I am mentioning here because I am here posting. I would like to opt out of it all, but of course that's not possible. Yes this is all part of the advancement of society, but I think we are in need of a step back or ten, or twenty. We give away all sorts of information and noone thinks twice. I am not familiar with so much of what's out there. And there is so much out there. It is just not right. I think reading up on the voterinfo being for sale is just proof positive of how far gone all of this is, in my mind.

@Flowerwall Correct, opting out of all is not possible. This is the new paradigm. We must exploit to our advantage, take the good, avoid the bad..... Just like in dating.... lol

Well, it needs TO STOP.

@Flowerwall Quite possibly. Good luck with that one!

@Geoffrey51 I won't be the one who fixes it. But not acknowledging the seriousness and full extent of the problem is the problem currently.

Not THAT info! The government also has my social security number, doesn't mean it's subject to freedom of information.

@Flowerwall I don't think a FOIA request is required for DMV info.

@FearlessFly I am pretty sure it is not that simple. I think you can only get info like that when it relates to an accident.

I think I just saw on one of these talk shows the IT person very easily pulling up someone's data, including SS number. I was only half paying attention though. So the whole concept of individual privacy has just been completely circumvented.

@Flowerwall It seems that it varies by state :
(examples)

[data.world]
[dmv.ca.gov]
[npr.org]
[dps.mn.gov]

@FearlessFly The census bureau is collecting data on eye color? That makes no sense. What is it verifying that data against? The federal government has a record of people's eye color? Well that sounds like something right out of a nazi playbook.

Yeah it definitely sounds like clear, planned gerrymandering about to occur. I don't see anywhere in these links where pii data is just freely available on the dmv websites. The website that claims to sell drivers license numbers, is it even real? How would that fall under foia?

@Flowerwall . . . don't misunderstand, I'm not in favor of privacy loss.
I said "I don't think a FOIA request is required". That is a federal issue, the links I provided were about states. I do believe the feds collect state data, I don't know if the feds 'sell' it. Your linked article is about hacked data.

@FearlessFly The hacked data, I thought said foia in the description.

@FearlessFly Also that eye color data. It will probably be available for sale in another year or two online if it isn't already. You have to question this. All of it.

How could this NOT be viewed as a clear violation of the right to privacy? Is it because it's just being disguised as harmless in step one? Is this how to effectively give the populace the run around ?

@Flowerwall It certainly is, but it still doesn’t alter the fact that Everything Is For Sale. If vendor and purchaser are in the same frame of mind, I.e attaining some form of advantage whether pecuniary or politically and so on.

I would argue that people trafficking is more a ‘violation of privacy’ so why wouldn’t voters records be saleable. Easier to access, easier and more lucrative to move on. For the right price, anything is available.

@Geoffrey51 I don't understand the point you are trying to make. My point is this should never be. Knowing this occurs makes a strong case to not register to vote. What are you meaning when you say "people trafficking" and how does that justify violating constitutionality guaranteed rights?

@Flowerwall Everything is saleable! Just because ‘it should never be’ doesn’t mean it won’t.

People trafficking ‘should never be’ but it is, so it’s a bit Pollyanna to think that, just because we think it’s a violation, those that can make an advantage from it will desist.

@Geoffrey51 So it shouldn't be changed? Systems should not be put in place to correct the problem?

@Flowerwall I’m not saying that at all. Just pointing out.