I agree with the very general principle -- but in practice, this public list of all licensed amateur radio operators is about the least interesting (public) dat

I agree with the very general principle -- but in practice, this public list of all licensed amateur radio operators is about the least interesting (public) database I'm on. Public records are a legitimate service. I might even argue that any license issued by the government that gives individual citizens additional rights, should be publicly disclosed. Not necessarily all the details, but the existence of the grant of super-citizen rights. Hairdressers, plumbers, property owners, drivers (caveat: DL for ID makes this tricky), gun owners, ... Basically, if you have a special set of laws applied to you, I think it's reasonable for that to be public information.