In June 1993, Rick Gates posted an unusual Internet Hunt to his monthly contest in usenet (alt.internet.services): he presented a simple email address and asked his contest participants to find out what they could about the owner of the email address. The participants found 148 "separate pieces" of information including the subject's employer, his addresses, and his fiancee's name. This immense availability of information was surprising especially considering the subject's employer: the Central Intelligence Agency.
We have entered the age of identify theft, online romance and virtual communities. Given that all but the most extreme luddites have used the Internet at one time, it is important to know how much can be discerned about an individual by simply surfing the web. Can a person stalk you or steal your identity from half way around the world without leaving their desk? We investigate the Internet in 2004 to see how readily available information is on the web, classify the types of information we find and the sources we use and discuss the implications in today's growing webcentered world.
Keywords: Privacy, World Wide Web, Snooping, Security.