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September 3, 2009
Blockshopper
I had a closing on a condo only 4 weeks ago. I found an "article" on blockshopper.com about the sale. The article tells what I paid and who the seller was. The article also lifted my bio and photo from my work site too. I wrote to all three people listed on the blockshopper contact list but not one has replied. Should I contact the Attorney General in the state of blockshopper's hq? What can I do to get this "article" off the internet? Thank you. PS I have an order of protection against a relative and this is why I don't want my new address on the internet. My relative has been declared persona non grata by my employer (a large institution).
Comments
Real estate transactions and your employer website contain public information. I personally think that what blockshopper is doing is a gross invasion of privacy, however you presumably don't have the hundreds of thousands of dollars to make them go away. They have already been sued, so from past behavior it is pretty unlikely they will play nice. It was worth a try.
You could ask your lawyer how to create a LLC and transfer the deed, but it won't hide the steps. You can also ask your employer to take down your Internet profile. Good luck.
Posted by: Maly at September 2, 2009 9:04 PM
if you don't mind to add your story to an article, e-mail to mtorres@consumeraffairs.com
Posted by: Maly at September 2, 2009 9:34 PM
you know, that this is a public info. YOu can find it on trulia.com. More important: you can find it on nyc.gov/finance or from the DOB website.
Another interesting fact: people can google your email address and find so much interesting stuff.
Posted by: bobjohn at September 2, 2009 11:18 PM
This is disturbing. Is there any way to have it removed?
Posted by: west1 at September 3, 2009 11:04 AM
as others point out purchase and sale information is within the public domain and is news subject to reporting. Putting your personal information on a site that is unprotected means it can be viewed and reported on. However if that site is copy right protected using your picture for commercial purposes without permission it is a violation of NY law. Using your published picture as part of a news article may or may not be a violation. It depends on whether they have lifted the picture or done it by attaching a link. While you can contact the State's AG who is very interested in privacy issues you may also want to talk with an attorney who specializes in copyright issues...
Privacy is only invaded when non public protected information is used. Since all the info was publicly available or posted by you or your company in the public domain your rights are somewhat limited.
Posted by: smeyer418 at September 3, 2009 11:10 AM
Wow, I just looked at that site, they actually linked to a buyers wedding announcement in the NYT's . WTF does that have to do with real estate? TMI
Posted by: cggirl at September 3, 2009 11:24 AM
In the old days the landed gentry wanted to be known...
Posted by: tybur6 at September 3, 2009 12:03 PM
If all they have done is published (and repackaged) information already in the public domain, then they are not in breach. As someone above has said in NYC all property transactions as well as mortgages are recorded on ACRIS and easily searchable by anyone.
While what they are doing might feel like an invasion of privacy all they've done is make the information easier to access. In a way this is no different than Streeteasy or PropertyShark although Blockshopper writes a 'story' as opposed to merely displaying data in its raw form.
If protection of your address was important to you then the condo purchase should have been done by an LLC you control.
It's now way too late to close this door, this horse has already bolted.
Posted by: 99luftballons at September 3, 2009 12:13 PM
Personally I think we need to revisit some of the documents that are made available with no restriction over the internet--in particular ACRIS. Not sure why the entire world needs to be able to see my mortgage online. But, agree with the other folks, seems like blockshopper.com is just compiling information that's in the public domain.
Posted by: woodys at September 3, 2009 1:30 PM
Disagree with other posters--this is total BS. Definitely worth bringing it to the AG's attention. Also worth bringing it to the attention of your local legislator (Assembly and Senate), and your local council member. Would also mention this to any organization that works in domestic violence.
And go through the stories on the website. Email the people in them. I'm sure they have no idea someone is doing this to them.
It's nonsense to suggest that laws which served to protect privacy in the non-computer age are sufficient for the information age. I mean, if stuff like this ends up the new standard of privacy, fine. But that should be something that we debate and have input on, and that people know about so they can try and take precautions. It shouldn't be something that just happens because we're working off laws that existed before google.
Posted by: bkrules at September 3, 2009 1:59 PM
Years ago, you could go to the deeds office to get this stuff but no one probably bothered. Now everyone can know what I and my husband spent on our house last year. Fortunately, we don't have too much info about us on the tubes, or we weren't interesting enough to cobble together an article.
Nonetheless, I've wondered if folks that have not been able to contact me (and who I don't really want to deal with) might show up out of the woodwork someday.
Posted by: nk at September 3, 2009 2:19 PM
I also think the law should be changed but the law now is pretty clear. Also making things not public just creates a way of charging people to get the same information. Government and the public operate best when things are open and above board. I do think it would be helpful if people knew what is going to be available from a public data base but making it non public isn't necessarily the best either. In any case the law now has very little protection on most information. Nothing wrong in trying to change it.
Posted by: smeyer418 at September 3, 2009 3:06 PM
you wouldnt necessarily need to make the information non-public but you could restrict access, maybe make it only accesible with a username for which you'd need to provide your real name address etc. SOMEthing to lower the profile a bit, maybe also make it possible to trace who's accessed the documents, but still allow access to those that legitimately need it.
Also, I can see why some information is helpful to have online--like sale price etc--but why do we need the full mortgage document, amount borrowed, rate, etc? Like the unfortunate fellow that began this thread I think most people are unaware all this is online for any jerk to see (as is an image of signature on all documents, lovely that that's in the public domain).
Speaking of people contacting you out of the woodwork, I know we started getting all kinds of insurance offers (disability, life) right after we bought our place that referenced the fact that we were new homeowners...
Posted by: woodys at September 3, 2009 3:44 PM
The information on acris can be extremely difficult to read and decipher particularly in instances where the existing owner has refinanced etc. Our information was lifted off ACRIS and debated on several different blogs (this one included) ad nauseum when we gained a little notoriety a couple of years ago and what I found funny (after initially feeling aghast that my financial privacy had been shattered) was that not one person was able to correctly identify our actual mortgage amount but consistently had it about $600k over what it is.
As NK said years ago you physically had to go to the clerks office to access this info but now it is on the web for all to see. BKRules I don't think the AG is really going to get involved - this information has always been in the public domain and all the internet has down is make it more accessible.
Posted by: 99luftballons at September 3, 2009 3:52 PM
Ah yes! We have had the requisite rise in junk mail, and the scam that requests we pay them some amount for our own deed, but I'm more worried about the acquaintance who was "reborn" dropping by to try to convert us.
Posted by: nk at September 3, 2009 3:58 PM
They did it to me as well. My company's pr agency picked it up in their media round-up and it got broadcasted to everybody in my office.
Really, really irritating.
Posted by: guywithahouse at September 3, 2009 9:30 PM
I think finding information about given house is Ok (i.e. who is the owner, what was the sale prices, taxes, etc).
What disturbs me is the nyc.gov/etc access database free for taking with all this info. (I think it is called norpv_02152008brooklyn.xls). This one allows to search by person's name and see where this person has property and lives.
Posted by: bobjohn at September 4, 2009 1:51 AM
Another scary .com is pipl.com. They collect every single public piece of information about you and group it into one handy dandy webpage, where basically people can find out where you have been living for the past decade or so, along with former telephone numbers, etc. Basically it's the same info that credit reports use to check that you are the true you. I contacted them to remove my page, and they also refused, on the basis that it's nothing more than already public information. They didn't care that I had a stalker in the past, and reasons for wanting to protect my privacy.
Posted by: townhouser at September 4, 2009 7:07 AM
Hi. Thanks to all who gave me their advice and support. Blockshopper did remove the article after my employer wrote to them and I sent them my order of protection. I actually found the email address of the founder of Blockshopper and wrote to him when his staff didn't reply. Now I'm just trying to get Google and Bing to act faster to remove the link which has my address posted for all to see.
Posted by: vesnaspring at September 6, 2009 7:04 PM
I have not bought or sold a house in 12 years, and yet, a simple search of my name results in my home address appearing on the screen. Click the link and there is all the information on my home and advertising. They are not doing this to us for real estate purposes, they are doing this to make money on our names. They get this information not only through public records, but through other web sites in which you've signed-up with your information thinking it would be private. They're making money on us, and you know others will start doing the same unless the laws are changed.
Posted by: alita at September 12, 2009 2:22 PM
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