by Bill Rounds Recently by Bill Rounds: Best Way To Avoid Springing a WikiLeak
Notice: This information is in no way to be used by pranksters, practical jokers or angry ex-girlfriends. This is a discussion of the very serious topic of pizza and pizza delivery.
You may not be aware, but Dominos Pizza maintains the largest consumer database in the world. That’s right, Dominos! Most people might be careful about revealing their personal information to websites, software companies, spammers and all kinds of other businesses, but just when you least expect it, even your pizza guy is keeping track of you. I don’t know which is the bigger pizza delivery fail. Transactional Databases Keep Track Of You Why is this such a big deal? If you have taken great pains to keep your phone number and address out of public records, you may have to start all over after revealing that info to your favorite pizza delivery guy. Even if you’re a Little Ceasar’s person, pay attention because this can apply to a lot of other companies who are doing the same thing as Dominos. It is only a matter of time before the Corleone family finds which database you are in. If you think you might have been caught up in a database like this and committed your own pizza delivery fail, it’s not too late. You can let your trail in the transactional database go cold, which is almost as good as never appearing in it in the first place. How To Avoid The Dominos Pizza Delivery Fail First, do not call from any number that is associated with you. You can block your phone number from their caller ID. Use *67 before dialing their number or ask your phone provider to keep your phone number blocked from caller ID. (*67 won’t work when dialing 911, 800, 900, 877 or other designated prefix numbers) Another option is to get a spoofcard, prepaid calling card or use another caller ID spoofing technique to call from any number that you want. They will be keeping track of who calls them and if the number is known to them, they will know who you are. You could also use a different Google voice number every time you call or just use a friend’s phone.Don’t give them your real name. There is nothing illegal about using any name you want as long as you aren’t going to defraud anyone. Be sure to pay in cash. If you have gotten this far you are probably in the clear. Your address alone will probably not be enough information for them to link the purchase to you and your location. Unless of course you have strange ordering habits, like ordering a half cheese, half anchovy pizza with cheese sticks, Fanta and Cinnasticks every single time you order. This kind of order going to a million different names at the same address is as fishy as your pizza. To protect your address, you might want to give them the address of your neighbor’s house. Make sure your neighbor is okay with it first. You can put up a note on their door with the full amount of cash and tip asking them to just leave the pizza on the porch. Or, you can leave a note saying “Sorry, I am babysitting at 2456 not 2458.” Conclusion Transactional databases keep track of all kinds of stuff that you do. They are increasingly cross-referenced with other databases and available to more and more people. Make sure to protect your information at all points along the way to prevent your own version of a pizza delivery fail. For more tips like this, sign up for the email list. Reprinted with permission from How to Vanish. February 8, 2011 Bill Rounds, J.D. is a California attorney. He holds a degree in Accounting from the University of Utah and a law degree from California Western School of Law. He practices civil litigation, domestic and foreign business entity formation and transactions, criminal defense and privacy law. He is a strong advocate of personal and financial freedom and civil liberties. Copyright © 2011 How to Vanish
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