Ideally, it should not be possible for random hateful people to easily get name/address records from local governments, but that's unfortunately not the world we live in yet.
Indeed. I was in Sweden and learned that you can look up someone's address and pay on a government website. I think there are some "are you human" checks, but it's basically all in the clear.
It creeped me out a bit and then I was angry when I realized it's the same way in the US, but maybe worse. In the US this is possible too, you just have to pay private data brokers and a bunch of middle men make a cheap buck. Employers sell your pay data, websites sell your address. Everyone makes a buck at your expense.
Most Texas counties put all their residents' complete, real-time information out there with zero impediments to scraping and wholesale harvesting. Appraisal value, tax payment and tax status, mailing address, full legal name, and phone number. Basically a scammer, stalker, and data broker goldmine.
I completely agree, but this isn't the fix. Corporations should be expected to behave like corporations. Having said that, I wouldn't argue against keeping it until we had some better privacy laws and practices in this country(/world)
You are right, it is completely absurd. And it's great! Anonymous companies and tax havens (domestic and international) are something completely contrary to how society at large is organized. And it is the best thing which has ever been invented. They are accessible to any person who has about a thousand dollars, no matter your race, sex, age, ethnicity, family name, political affiliation, or any other factors except that tiny sum. If you're not born into wealth or into a politically connected family, making an LLC is the only opportunity you have in life to not be a human battery in the Matrix. And it's easily accessible to anyone. Incredible.
There are lots of benefits to putting your home into a living trust. It just has one side effect of hiding your name on public GIS of tax parcels. One reason to do a trust is so that you can alter who benefits from it without amending a will.
