At some point you will need a new passport it would be at that point I guess you are screwed. I don't know maybe a criminal can post a more relevant answer.

They spent 100 million dollars and found Obama BIn Laden. Just a matter of time LOL

Somehow I do not believe Obama telling me Osama is dead. I think they are having a beer together every evening on the White House lawn. Like minds drink together as normal. ha ha

yes, I have heard Osama is living in luxury on the moon-landing set somewhere in the Mojave

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US State Department knows where I am because I tell 'em:

https://step.state.gov/step/

Many would not use that service.

They hate government and live in a world of paranoia !

Or perhaps they value their privacy.

That's not paranoia. It's a desire for freedom from unwanted intrusion into ones private life by busybody state agencies.

Sure... but people like their"nosy" State Dept when there's unrest, rioting and flooding and they want a ticket back to the US, don't they?!

Do they? Not anyone I've met - you must move in different circles to me.

I wonder how many US citizens living in Thailand asked their embassy for a ticket back home because of the flooding in BKK last year, or the unrest we see at the moment, or during the Redshirt riots previously? I'll wager that out of the thousands of US expats in LOS, not one requested a ticket back home. And I'm equally sure that no tickets would have been forthcoming even if they had asked.

Personally, I don't expect my government to act as my nanny. I deal with things like unrest, rioting and flooding myself, in the way that I deem best. It would never occur to me to involve my government. The less they know about my movements, the better I like it. And no, I have no shady past that I'm anxious to hide from anyone. I just value my privacy.

The registry operated by the US State Department is a free service that may only be useful when one is incapacitated and not capable of handling emergency matters as one sees fit -- I do not see that signing up has in any way had a tangible effect on my privacy.