Thursday, March 13, 2008

There is a Database of all Johns?

This whole Eliot Spitzer thing is giving me all sorts of information on prostitution that I never knew before. For example, did you know there is a database of all the Johns?

Q. Do you typically know the true identity of your clients, and if so, how?

A. Yes. Always. I insist that they give me their full names and their place of work so that I can contact them there before we meet. I also check their identification when we meet. I also use verification companies, which assist escorts in verification of clients. These companies do the verification of the client and put them in a database so that when the client wants to meet with a girl for the first time, he doesn’t have to go through the verification process again. For a fee, I can call in and they will tell me if the client has a history of giving the girls problems, where he works, and his full name.

I would have thought that the clients would want to protect their privacy more. I don't understand what stops a private investigator from contacting one of the verification companies. Or for that matter what stops the verification company from blackmailing the clients.

via Freakonomics

3 comments:

Audacious Epigone said...

Yeah, that does seem mind boggling that people would be willing to volunteer their information in that way, especially conspicuous public figures like Spitzer. I suppose the services promise the information won't be sold or given to a third party, but what if the pimp (or whatever the head honcho is called in these operations) had a political ax to grind. Talk about some powerful blackmailing potential.

Tangentially, that sort of blackmail is part of the plot in the movie Punch-Drunk Love. I guess the real thing is more interesting, though.

MensaRefugee said...

What I would like is a history search of any bride to be of mine.

But I guess that would be evil, right?

Fat Knowledge said...

Mensa,

What kind of girls are you dating? ;)

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