Sharing your personal address online or with strangers can have serious consequences. Here are some quick answers to key questions about the risks of sharing your address and why you should avoid doing so:
What are the risks of sharing my address?
Identity theft – Criminals can use your address to steal your identity and open accounts in your name.
Financial fraud – Scammers can use your address for fraudulent purposes like sending bills to your home for services you didn’t sign up for.
Physical safety – Stalkers or violent criminals can show up at your home if they get access to your address.
Property crime – Burglars can target your home if they know you’re away and get access to your address.
Junk mail – Sharing your address leads to more junk mail and unwanted solicitation from companies.
Scams – Fraudsters use your address to make their scams seem more legitimate and target you.
Hacking – Knowing your address helps hackers figure out passwords and security question answers.
Why is my address valuable to criminals?
Your address gives scammers and identity thieves key personal information they can exploit such as:
- Knowing if you’re home – Criminals can monitor if anyone is home before attempting a burglary.
- Identity verification – Your address helps confirm your identity when opening fraudulent accounts.
- Demographic data – Criminals use your neighborhood and home value to refine scams.
- Personal history – Addresses reveal where you’ve lived, which schools you attended, and more.
- Security questions – Your address often helps answer security questions when accessing accounts.
- Tax fraud – Criminals file fake tax returns with your address and steal refunds.
How can criminals get access to my address?
Here are some of the ways criminals gather people’s addresses:
- Data breaches – When companies suffer data breaches, addresses get leaked along with other personal info.
- Social media – Facebook, Instagram and other social media profiles often list addresses publicly.
- Online databases – Data brokers legally sell address info and public records to anyone.
- Customer lists – Stores and services can sell or leak customer lists with addresses.
- Order shipments – Criminals steal address labels off packages left at homes.
- Phone directories – Your address may be listed publicly in old printed directories.
- Guessing – Sophisticated scammers can often guess addresses based on limited info.
What personal data is linked to my home address?
Beyond just identifying where you live, your address links to a wealth of other sensitive personal information, like:
- Full name
- Phone number
- Age or date of birth
- Voter registration and political affiliation
- Property records including value, size, owners
- Household members and relationships
- Criminal records and sex offender status
- Marriage and divorce records
- Bankruptcies, foreclosures and lawsuits
- Business ownership at the address
- Vehicles registered at the address
How can I remove my address from public records?
It’s very difficult to get your address completely removed from public records, but here are a few ways to reduce exposure:
- Opt out of data broker lists that aggregate and sell personal info
- Use a PO box or other mailing address when possible to avoid linking your physical address
- Request your voter registration be private in states that allow this
- Pay to get unpublished phone numbers or use a VOIP number not tied to your address
- Remove your home address from social media profiles and online directories
- Search your name online frequently to request removal of any found addresses
What are signs my address was compromised?
Watch for these common indications your address may have been accessed by scammers:
- Spikes in junk mail, especially pre-approved credit card offers
- Unknown charges or bills for services at your address
- Credit cards opened fraudulently in your name with your address
- Notifications from your state’s voter registration office of changes
- Unexpected home visits from solicitors mentioning your name specifically
- Tax notices from the IRS about unfiled returns related to your address
Are home addresses public information?
In general, home addresses are considered public information, with some exceptions. Here’s an overview of address privacy laws:
- Most state and county property records include home owners’ names and addresses.
- Voter registration records are public in most states, containing voters’ addresses.
- Driver’s license registrations with addresses can often be requested from the DMV.
- Court records like property deeds, marriage licenses, and other filings contain addresses.
- Phone directories, utility bills, and car registrations tie names to addresses.
- Federal laws like the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act limit some address disclosure like from motor vehicle records.
- Certain states like California give residents more control over address disclosure from public records.
Are there legal protections for my address?
There are limited legal protections at the federal and state level, such as:
- Driver’s Privacy Protection Act – Prohibits release of driver’s license data like addresses.
- Address Confidentiality Programs – Allow victims of abuse to use alternate addresses.
- Safe at Home laws – Let survivors of stalking and abuse use substitute addresses.
- Voter record privacy – Laws in some states let voters keep their registration records private.
- Real estate disclosure opt-outs – Some states allow homeowners to list LLCs instead of their name in property records.
- Court record seals – Victims can request records containing addresses be sealed for privacy.
However, these protections are narrow and your address remains available in most public records.
What are the risks of using my work address instead?
Using your work address instead of home address seems safer, but has risks too:
- Employers monitor mail – You lose privacy from bosses and IT seeing your personal mail.
- Job loss exposes address – If you leave the job you may not get mail routed properly.
- Company rejection – Employers may not consent to use of their business address.
- Still publicly listed – Work addresses are often just as public as home addresses.
- Scammers have job info – Giving scammers your employer name brings additional risks.
Rarely is a work address an equal substitute for keeping your home address private.
What precautions can I take to protect my address?
Some smart precautions to better protect your address include:
- Get a PO box – Requires anyone sending mail to use the PO box instead.
- Enroll in address confidentiality – Legal programs conceal addresses for victims of abuse, stalking, etc.
- Use a virtual mailbox service – Companies like UPS Store give you an address to use instead.
- Opt out of data brokers – Reduce exposure by removing info from data aggregator sites.
- Take online safety precautions – Be very selective in sharing address online, use tight privacy settings.
- Shred documents – Destroy any paperwork containing your address before trash disposal.
What are examples of times I should not share my address?
Avoid sharing your address in situations like:
- Online profiles, directories, mailing lists
- Entering contests or sweepstakes
- Surveys either online, by phone, or mail
- With strangers asking for help like giving directions
- On social media posts or publicly visible bios
- When making online purchases – use an alternate shipping address if possible
- Chat rooms or dating site messages early in communications
- Physical mailings like auto warranty solicitations with personalization
- Unsigned petitions where address is visible to other signers
Can I get in legal trouble for not sharing my address?
In most cases, you cannot get in legal trouble simply for not disclosing your address. Key points:
- No laws require revealing home address in business or social settings.
- Exceptions include a lawful subpoena, court order, or request from law enforcement.
- You may need to provide address for government aid programs to confirm eligibility.
- Refusing to give your address to police during an investigation may lead to charges like obstruction.
- If entering a legal agreement, you obligated to provide your physical address.
Is it legal for companies to sell my address without consent?
Unfortunately, it is legal in most cases for companies to share, compile, or sell your address without obtaining your direct consent first due to a few key reasons:
- Addresses are considered public information rather than personal data for privacy laws.
- Companies argue address sales are a normal business practice covered by their terms of service and privacy policies.
- Data brokers have successfully lobbied against stronger privacy laws limiting address sharing and sales.
- Law enforcement often opposes address privacy laws which hinder investigations.
- The Constitution protects the publication of lawfully obtained, truthful information like addresses.
So far, consumer advocates have not gained enough traction enacting stricter address protection laws.
Can I request companies or websites take down my address?
You can request companies or websites remove your address, but they are not necessarily obligated to comply. Here’s an overview:
- Most sites will honor address take down requests, but policies vary.
- Public record sites usually refuse removal since addresses come from government sources.
- The right to be forgotten in the EU gives more address removal rights.
- GDPR protects EU citizens by allowing address scrubbing on request.
- U.S. tech companies may resist removing addresses without a court order.
- Site owners may require a deletion fee or make the process difficult.
Keep trying removal requests, but realize public data laws favor continued address publication in many cases.
What are the penalties for misusing someone’s address?
Intentionally misusing, selling, or publicizing someone’s address without consent may violate laws with penalties such as:
- Federal DPPA violations incur fines up to $5,000 per disclosure.
- Drivers license address misuse can lead to jail time under DPPA.
- Voter intimidation laws prohibit using voter registration addresses to harass or threaten.
- Stalking, harassment, and doxing laws can apply to weaponizing addresses.
- Identity theft penalties increase for the use of addresses to commit fraud.
Companies face the greatest risks for improperly sharing or selling customer address data without permission.
Conclusion
Your home address contains a goldmine of personal information that criminals can easily exploit to ruin your finances, steal your identity, invade your privacy, and put your family in danger. Think very carefully before ever sharing this sensitive data either online or offline. Safeguard your address information by using an alternate mailing address whenever possible and limiting public exposure. While home addresses remain legal to share in many contexts, you should always keep your address private for security.