This via CNet:

"A Web site that concerns privacy advocates because it makes it ultra easy for anyone to find anyone else's address and phone number is about to get even more controversial. ZabaSearch is a search engine for personal information, including current and past addresses, phone numbers and birthdates.

In his San Francisco Chronicle column on Friday, David Lazarus reports that the company is planning to introduce a feature, ZabaBlog, that will allow people to write and post blogs about other individuals.

Reaction from a privacy advocate was, not surprisingly, negative. "It's outrageous," Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, told Lazarus, adding that it is irresponsible for a search service to "move into the area of what could be unsubstantiated gossip." Given that private individuals have stronger rights to privacy under libel law than public figures, the move could be a risky one for ZabaSearch."

My first thoughts about this is that enabling users to write and post blogs about other individuals is so junior-high. "Hey, folks! We'll give you the ability to pass notes about Clarice and her weird hair follicle problem; plus, you can even look up her address and phone number and prank call her. You'll just be the coolest." Meh.

Not sure exactly where the value is in this to the greater Web community, but then again, I guess not everything has to be useful, helpful, or even good taste. Heck, if that was the case, half of the visible Web would probably be out of business.

Update: I just checked and this is already up and (kind of) running. Run a search for your name. Underneath whatever results come up, you'll see text that says "www.ZabaSearch.com/ZabaBlog". Click on that, and you'll see a popup window, "Post a message on this Blog Starting September 1 2005." So starting September 1, anytime someone does a search on your name, they can post a comment right underneath for all the world to see.

Related: Read more about Zabasearch.com, and find more people online using this list of people search resources.