# whitepages.com knows (approximately) how old you are?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 26, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800 "2008-03-26T15:45:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/1 "2008-03-26T15:45:10Z")
Look your name up at [http://whitepages.com](http://whitepages.com). I found it listed my age in the 35-39 category, which is right. Not sure how I feel about this though. Is Verizon releasing my birth date to [whitepages.com](http://whitepages.com)?
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### Author:  [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/2 "2008-03-26T15:49:06Z")
It got me down - address, phone #, and age 35-30. I turn 40 tomorrow, so maybe I’ll check again to see if it updates.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/3 "2008-03-26T16:11:21Z")
My age-range was correct also.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/4 "2008-03-26T16:14:27Z")
It didn’t find me - at all, and I have a listed phone number, go figure!
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/5 "2008-03-26T16:15:38Z")
It lists people who have died, too, as if they’re alive and aging, if their number is still in use in that household.
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### Author:  [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/6 "2008-03-26T17:36:14Z")
I discovered this a few months ago and am highly disturbed by it. It was accurate also.
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### Author:  [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/7 "2008-03-26T17:39:31Z")
Huh, apparently there are some other people with my name. But the two listings on whitepages aren’t me.
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/8 "2008-03-26T17:46:52Z")
It has nothing to do with phone numbers or phone companies.
ZabaSearch and USA-People-Search (among many others) will give you people’s ages, spouses, etc. For a fee, you can get a lot more information: employment, mortgage amount, etc.
Companies have been collecting as much info as possible on us for a long, long time. Which of course they sell at the drop of a hat. Computers and the Internet just make it a whole lot easier.
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### Author:  [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/9 "2008-03-26T17:48:05Z")
Hey! It says I’m older than I am! But it lumped me in as a twosome with my husband, so it’s taking his age into account.
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### Author:  [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/10 "2008-03-26T19:49:58Z")
I don’t exist I typed in every zip code I’ve lived in for the last 7 years. Its wierd I always thought I existed. I’m going to have to ponder that.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/11 "2008-03-26T19:56:00Z")
No public database has the correct or current data for me as to age or address, and my phone numbers are always unlisted. However, many databases have 20 year old addresses, or misspelled ones, or in one case, the one used by someone who once tried to do an identity steal on me (it didn’t work, but the data they entered got attached anyway).
Which is fine with me on all counts. But if things are so inaccurate, how can you trust data on others?
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### Author:  [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/12 "2008-03-26T20:57:58Z")
[QUOTE=Oredigger77]
I don’t exist I typed in every zip code I’ve lived in for the last 7 years. Its wierd I always thought I existed. I’m going to have to ponder that.
[/QUOTE]
I also came up empty when I searched for myself. Then I plugged in the name of someone I know, and her address appeared. When I pushed the “more information” button, however, the response was that the person “doesn’t exist in our database”. 😕
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### Author:  [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/13 "2008-03-26T21:05:13Z")
It has my age right, but Razorette’s wrong (she’s in the same group as me.) The map also has us in the wrong damn spot. I’ve been working for months trying to get those damn online map places straightened out. People actually use those to try to find our house, and we have to keep telling them, “go 1.2 miles north of where the map says we are.” I mean, I can understand being a house or two off, but a mile?
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### Author:  [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/14 "2008-03-26T21:05:31Z")
Got three hits for me.
#3 was my correct address and age group.
#2 was a realtor in North Carolina. A part I’ve never lived in (and don’t know where it is, actually).
#1 was a defunct work address. Complete with job title. ‘Mis Manager’. I think that says it all!
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/15 "2008-03-26T21:45:05Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor]
The map also has us in the wrong damn spot.
[/quote]
SOME mapping services put the pin in the center of the ZIP code, not at the exact street address. That’s not far off for many urban locales, where a ZIP code may be only a few blocks or even just a single building, but in rural areas, it’s way off most of the time.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/16 "2008-03-26T22:14:33Z")
Well, this was interesting - for several months, we’ve been getting junk mail addressed to my husband at our home address but with the business name _Ecommerce_ in the address. He had no idea what it was about. But when I looked us up, the listing came up with that name at our address but with his work number. I expect it was probably a site he registered for at work.
And yeah, it had our age ranges correct.
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### Author:  [@SylverOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SylverOne)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/17 "2008-03-26T22:17:17Z")
The map for our address plops us right in the middle of China.
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### Author:  [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/18 "2008-03-26T22:27:11Z")
I’ve never been able to find myself when looking myself up on white pages except using my first initial and last name. This one had my whole name. Squicked me right out.
I used the privacy options in the lower right-hand corner to have my entry removed. It’s supposed to take 3-5 days.
My age range was slightly wrong; I moved into the next age range in November.
GT
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/19 "2008-03-26T22:29:20Z")
Everything was right for me, but I’m not 35-39 just quite yet! (Though in many ways that’s ideal for males: It’ll be much worse when I’m 39 and it pegs me in the mid 40’s!)
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### Author:  [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitepages-com-knows-approximately-how-old-you-are/442800/20 "2008-03-27T15:12:52Z")
[QUOTE=labtrash]
It got me down - address, phone #, and age 35-30. I turn 40 tomorrow, so maybe I’ll check again to see if it updates.
[/QUOTE]
I still thinks I’m 35-39.
I’m now jealous of my [whitepages.com](http://whitepages.com) listing. ☹
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