Mobile Phone Number Directory Raises Privacy Issues

Written by Christian Milsom on June 10, 2009 · Filed under Tech 

You know those little tick boxes that you get on everything nowadays that ask you to check (or uncheck) you are happy to have you details sold across the world? Well have you ever wondered what happens if you don’t (or do) select that option? Well here’s an answer, you get included in a mobile phone number directory.

Since 2007 Connectivity (the company behind the directory enquiries service 118 800) have been through a load of these lists and managed to compile a list of around 15million mobile phone numbers which will now be accessible through the website and via the landline number.

Shona Forster, 118800′s Marketing Director defended this tactic by saying “We are accessing data in the same way that lots of other companies do for marketing purposes… The difference is that we don’t use that data for marketing purposes and we don’t sell it on to anybody else”.

There are a few obvious problems with this the most blatant being one of privacy. Surely it is an invasion of our civil liberties to ‘harvest’ these numbers and put them into a database which people can access without our permission? Apparently not, although interestingly the original intention was to contact everyone to ensure that they wanted to opt into the system but that was quietly dropped (probably because they realised that no one would say yes!).

In fact this probably would be verging on the illegal if it wasn’t for that the fact they don’t physically give you the number, rather they contact the phone in question (either by phoning if you use the 118 800 number, or by texting if you choose to do it through the website) and ask them whether they are happy to be put through – much akin to the method used by reverse charge calls.

However the fact remains that you can now be contacted in a way that wasn’t really possible before without your express consent beforehand, so it is likely to cause a few problems with some people. Fortunately (according to Connectivity) it is easy to remove yourself from the service, but that will be of little consolation to the many that object to the principle more than the mild irritation that it would provide.

The second, and probably most crucial with regards to its eventual success, is the fact that it will probably be pretty outdated. Just think about all the older basic mobile phones sat around in drawers and cupboards and are no longer being used, perhaps you’ve changed provider/sim card or even sold your old mobile phone? If you did any of these within the last two years then the information they hold on you will be out of date, and people won’t be able to find you anyway, and given the short average lifespan of a phone, that is pretty likely (although at least you won’t then have to pay the £1 charge).

However before I condemn this completely it would only be fair to point out that there are some obvious advantages of this, namely that being able to contact someone that you don’t have the details for (either generally, on your person or you may have lost them) can be very useful and if the system proves to be accurate enough it could make this mobile phone number directory quite popularly.

Via – BBC

If you like this page, please share it with your friends! :)