Remember that time when once a year, a private company would release a book to almost everybody for free that contained the name, address, and phone number for everyone that lived in a particular area ... and another for every business in the region - and similar books were handed out across the entire country for every region of the country.

Local libraries often carried out of area books so that patrons could access information outside their area.
Every so often, a booth standing unattended out in public also had one of these books available.

And if that wasn't enough, you could use your phone to ask someone about someone else's phone number anywhere in the country. For free. Semi-anonymously - or fully anonymous with a pay phone.

That practice ended years ago. It's not so simple finding similar information now. Want to get in touch with an old friend that you lost contact with? It's next to impossible to even discover an email address let alone a phone number or physical address.

And even if you find such info, you have to give up a pint of blood and your first-born to access that information.

So why did I feel so much less concerned then than I do now?

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