Found this little diddy over at MSNBC.com
An online directory that claims to provide 90 million mobile telephone numbers is raising concerns among cell phone users and privacy advocates about unwanted callers who rack up the minutes on their calling plans and the difficulty of opting out of the list.
Intelius charges $14.95 a pop for the numbers, which it says it collects from public sources, such as property records and other businesses. The owner of a number has no say in the matter.
This little bit of information is pretty scary in and of itself. For $14.95 each search, anyone can find your private cell phone number if it's been posted or used in public records. Most of us don't like to give out our cell phone numbers because we all get charged for these calls that are unwanted. It's one thing to even humor a telemarketer on your land line (assuming you still have one) but not funny when they are eating into your monthly minute allotment.
For the record, when I entered my cell phone number, and without paying the $14.95, Intelius claims they have my name and address - for a fee. The city was wrong so I'm not sure about the veracity of the rest of the information.
UPDATE: Intelius says you can remove your number from its cell phone directory by faxing a removal request, along with proof of ID (like a driver’s license), to 425-974-6194. (I sure hope you first don't have to pay the $14.95 to see if your number is there, then another $14.95 to make sure they removed it.)
But, dear Reader, it gets better (or worse, depending).
Guess who's first out of the block of the carriers to stand up for their customer's privacy? Verizon. Yes, you read right, Verizon. The same folks who, along with AT&T and BellSouth, had no problem surrendering your privacy to the NSA and now want immunity from class action lawsuits stemming from customer privacy violation.
Verizon Wireless, which helped shoot down plans for a wireless directory as a “dumb idea,” said in a statement that it would take whatever step was necessary, including litigation, to “protect its customers’ numbers and privacy.”
“Trolling the Internet, using data mining techniques and simply buying lists to create a directory are actions that clearly violate a consumer’s right to privacy,” the carrier said. “Verizon Wireless has long refused to release our customers’ numbers and we call on legislators and policy makers to ensure that what a consumer wants to be private stays that way.” (my emphasis added)
Can anybody say "hypocrisy?" Where was all of this ethical angst and moral outrage when the NSA was asking for all of that and more with little or no reason?
I'm just sayin'
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