Fedex Knows All!

Palmpilot

Palmpilot

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Richard Palm
I just ran into something weird. I signed up for Fedex's delivery management service so that I could have them hold a package for me at one of their locations, because I may not be home to sign for it. In the process of signing up, it asked me several questions for the purpose of "validating" my registration.

The first question was what class of FAA medical certificate I hold!

It just amazes me that their computer somehow knew to ask me that question. OK, I know that the FAA's database of pilots is publicly accessible, but pilots are a pretty small percentage of the population, so it's surprising that they would bother to program their computer to look there for identifying information on Fedex customers.

Another question it asked was which of several house numbers I had lived at. The only one I recognized was for a house I lived in more than twenty years ago. Amazing.
 
What if you got a new medical yesterday that's a different class than before and is not yet in the system? :D
 
Palmpilot said:
I just ran into something weird. I signed up for Fedex's delivery management service so that I could have them hold a package for me at one of their locations, because I may not be home to sign for it. In the process of signing up, it asked me several questions for the purpose of "validating" my registration.

The first question was what class of FAA medical certificate I hold!

It just amazes me that their computer somehow knew to ask me that question. OK, I know that the FAA's database of pilots is publicly accessible, but pilots are a pretty small percentage of the population, so it's surprising that they would bother to program their computer to look there for identifying information on Fedex customers.

Another question it asked was which of several house numbers I had lived at. The only one I recognized was for a house I lived in more than twenty years ago. Amazing.
Click to expand...

Did the same thing yesterday on UPS. It asked me if I knew any of the below people. One was my wife, but with her maiden name.

I'm not terribly surprised they bothered to do it. I wrote an iPhone app to scan that database in about 4 hours one night.
 
These are similar to the sorts of questions Equifax, Experian, or Transunion will ask you if you go request your free credit report from (or do any other business with) them. Their sites have worked that way for years, and I occasionally run into it elsewhere when a site really wants to try to establish your identity carefully.
 
Sure, they just pulled it from the NSA 'total awareness' system.

That email you deleted 3 years ago, fedex can retrieve it :)

More likely they just leased experians identity service.
 
I recall that the TSA got in a bit of hot water for using one of those verification services when people had no ID. One of the questions asked was "What political party are you registered to".
 
I had to have my identity verified over the phone at a bank to authorize a major banking transaction. They were asking me questions like what is the name of the street I lived on when I was ten years old, and from what State was my SSN issued (it wasn't from where I was born.)
 
The info they can get is more in depth than some of the info I can remember.
 
wsuffa said:
I recall that the TSA got in a bit of hot water for using one of those verification services when people had no ID. One of the questions asked was "What political party are you registered to".
Click to expand...

OOPS!
 
One interesting thing about the medical certificate question was that the choices were 1, 2, 4, and none of the above. I hold a third class, so none of the above was the correct answer. I suppose it was done that way to try to trip up someone who was guessing.
 
If you look closely at your skin, somewhere there's a barcode and tracking number. :D

David
 
Same thing as the OP but different questions. The one that really suprised me was: What is the serial number of your PA28-151?!! I didn't know it but I knew it started with the year of mfg. and only one of the choice had that so I got it that way. Another was "Where does this relative/friend live?" and it had my daughters first name. Her city was one of the choices. WOW!
 
weilke said:
...More likely they just leased experians identity service.
Click to expand...

That's a lot more believable than Fedex collecting that depth and breadth of information on their own.
 
If you think that's bad, imagine what Google has on you.... and how it could be monetized...
 
Palmpilot said:
That's a lot more believable than Fedex collecting that depth and breadth of information on their own.
Click to expand...

For good money, you can lease this verification service from the credit reporting agencies. What irritates me about this is the fact that the information runs through the clients systems and is thereby vulnerable. I can deal with a credit card number being breached, but if this kind of unique info gets out, there is no limit to the damage that can be done. The agencies themselves are probably pretty good in guarding that information, I dont have much trust in every client they may contract with.
 
weilke said:
What irritates me about this is the fact that the information runs through the clients systems and is thereby vulnerable. I can deal with a credit card number being breached, but if this kind of unique info gets out, there is no limit to the damage that can be done. The agencies themselves are probably pretty good in guarding that information, I dont have much trust in every client they may contract with.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, your fear has been realized. One of Experian's client was an ID theft service. http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/10/experian-sold-consumer-data-to-id-theft-service/
 
Ya think that's weird?

I just sent a parcel via FedEx and it asked me to confirm my favorite color was 'Magenta'.

I said it was and then it asked if my favorite TV show was Thomas Tank. How does it know?

Then it asked if I was wearing a blue T-Shirt with a 'Fail' logo on the back! OMG...I was. After I confirmed the color of the walls in my daughters bedroom it let me place the online order.

You're right...FedEx knows all.

BTW, Got a notice from FedEx that I'd save money in the shower on soap if I switched to liquid. Weird...
 
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