ABIM providing town of private residence to outside organizations

[the argus]

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I just found that the town of my PRIVATE RESIDENCE is available on the www.certificationmatters.org website. Website is run by ABMS and they state that this information was provided by the ABIM. Pretty messed up that the ABIM/ABMS are posting this info for the world to see...

 

[Angler]

My state (CA) medical board posts the home city of the licensee. For retired docs like me, there is no business city, so we must have our mailing address city posted publicly. Worse, if you click a link called "more detail" the actual mailing address (for me, it's my home!) is public. I asked if it could be withheld, but I'd have to give up my license, which I'm not willing to do... I don't think I have any disgruntled patients who want to come after me, but if I did, I'd be in trouble.

 

[chessknt]

I just found that the town of my PRIVATE RESIDENCE is available on the www.certificationmatters.org website. Website is run by ABMS and they state that this information was provided by the ABIM. Pretty messed up that the ABIM/ABMS are posting this info for the world to see...

Just wait until CMS starts dumping data later this year. I wouldnt be surprised if our SSNs and BMI ends up online soon.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

My state (CA) medical board posts the home city of the licensee. For retired docs like me, there is no business city, so we must have our mailing address city posted publicly. Worse, if you click a link called "more detail" the actual mailing address (for me, it's my home!) is public. I asked if it could be withheld, but I'd have to give up my license, which I'm not willing to do... I don't think I have any disgruntled patients who want to come after me, but if I did, I'd be in trouble.

You could open a PO box and use that for things like your license address where you don't expect much mail.

Or, there are companies which will create a virtual mail box for you, receive your mail, scan it, and then you can log in and see what you have.

Some of these companies seem frankly criminal though -- the first one I looked at can create a virtual mailbox, or a virtual office, or a virtual home. They will generate utility bills for your virtual home. Seems like you might be able to register to vote in another state with a setup like that.

 

[Angler]

You could open a PO box and use that for things like your license address where you don't expect much mail.

Or, there are companies which will create a virtual mail box for you, receive your mail, scan it, and then you can log in and see what you have.

Some of these companies seem frankly criminal though -- the first one I looked at can create a virtual mailbox, or a virtual office, or a virtual home. They will generate utility bills for your virtual home. Seems like you might be able to register to vote in another state with a setup like that.

I've thought about this, but just about any amateur criminal could find where any of us lives, even starting from scratch.

There's likely some patient who perceives that I've wronged them out there. But I honestly can't think of any, so I think I'm ok. I don't post here very often, but if any of you notice I've stopped posting, call the authorities.

 

[DrMetal]

I've thought about this, but just about any amateur criminal could find where any of us lives, even starting from scratch.

They can decipher what city you live in. They should not be able to get your actual physical address. Google your name every once in a while (especially if you own property), make sure your name/address don't pop up.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

They can decipher what city you live in. They should not be able to get your actual physical address. Google your name every once in a while (especially if you own property), make sure your name/address don't pop up.

Yeah it gets tricky.

Even aside from official government documentation of real estate deeds etc, in my town the local paper publishes all nearby real estate transactions each week. So you’d have to own the real estate under an LLC or something to evade that, and even then there are ways of figuring out who administers an LLC.

 

[Raryn]

They can decipher what city you live in. They should not be able to get your actual physical address. Google your name every once in a while (especially if you own property), make sure your name/address don't pop up.

Depends.

You can use DocDefender or even a more aggressive service like Optery to get your home address off all the White Pages/People Finder type websites - which is hundreds of them - but if you own property, most jurisdictions make property tax/deed records public - and many are totally searchable. Unless you bought your house in the name of a trust that doesn't contain any portion of your name, a motivated person could probably find your address.