They only had the numbers of local people and the phone book would just give you name, address and phone number.
If you’re the Terminator and there happen to be 3 Sarah Connors in the phone book, too bad, you’ve got to visit all 3 of them.
You could ask to have your number unlisted and many people did, particularly celebrities.
Nobody had an on-line presence so the only way people would even know the name of most people was if you told them.
It wasn’t really that bad.
They only had the numbers of local people and the phone book would just give you name, address and phone number. If you’re the Terminator and there happen to be 3 Sarah Connors in the phone book, too bad, you’ve got to visit all 3 of them. You could ask to have your number unlisted and many people did, particularly celebrities. Nobody had an on-line presence so the only way people would even know the name of most people was if you told them.