Wow!
I know American data protection law is pretty poor, but that really is shocking; such data should not be made public without the users explicit opt-in consent.
Wow!
I know American data protection law is pretty poor, but that really is shocking; such data should not be made public without the users explicit opt-in consent.
They have opt-in consent: it’s a known part of the US ham licensing process that the database is public and searchable, and nobody is forced to get a ham license.
In fact, several of the questions on the ham test involve the fact that you can look up operator info online.
That isn't opt-in consent!
If you type your name and address into the HN comment box and hit submit, you have opted in to having your address visible in a comment on HN.
The ham registration is the same. Before you can take the test to get licensed, you have to go to the FCC website and enter your information into their public database. It’s clear what you’re doing, you have to actively choose to do it, and it’s the direct outcome of the action you take.
Your amateur radio license is only active when:
A lot of information is out there for a lot of people in the US. Here you can find salary information for GA state employees by name: https://open.ga.gov/openga/salaryTravel/index. If you don't know their name, you can search by organization and get a big list of people and how much they make each year.