Will your mobile phone number be published online for the world to see? Email forwards have gone around proclaiming that cell phone numbers will be published online and cell phone uses can expect of wave of telemarketer phone calls. Besides the annoyance of telemarketers wasting your valuable cell phone minutes, publishing cell phone numbers would cause a major privacy breech. Since most people keep their cell phone near them throughout the day, they would be accessible to everyone every minute of every day. Even worse, cell phone directory services, would allow everyone you call to know exactly who you are.
How does the directory work?
Reverse phone directories work like a normal phone book but in reverse. Search for a phone number and it will respond with the owner’s name and address. They used to be like a real phone book, but the Internet has made reverse directories so automated and easy to use that the physical books have become obsolete. Right now, most online directories are free and then for an additional fee they offer more investigative services to determine more information about the phone’s owner. So while it is possible to find out a cell phone owners name from their phone number, it is not cheap, and it is not a sure thing.
Types of phone numbers
If cell phone numbers were published by the telephone companies then your name and address would pop up from reverse directory searches instead of an ad for additional investigations. It gets worse though, as technology does not stay reserved. Not only would the reverse directories show anyone and everyone your personal information, but application makers could automate the process further by looking up the information of every caller to a given phone or device. Then, if you called anyone, from a person to a business that you do not even know, they would instantly have your name, and possibly, photo from your Facebook profile, available to see exactly who they are talking to. Right now, this information is usually only available to close contacts that you choose to give it to. If cell phone numbers were published then the resulting lack of privacy for every call you make would be astounding. With your Facebook photo going out with every call, say goodbye to blind dates. Say goodbye to every blind interaction. No more anonymous complaints to a business manager. No more anonymous calls to the cops about your neighbors, or anyone that you may fear retribution from. No more calls to anywhere that might seem risque, immoral, or embarrassing.
Possible public records in the future
Is this the future of privacy? Maybe, but for now we are safe. In 2006 cell phone companies announced they were planning to make information regarding cell phones more available to the public, but it was an opt-in program and it would cost a usual 411 fee to get the information. Public backlash was strong, so the plan was scrapped, for now. If you only have a cell phone, you cannot easily be reverse looked up, so your identity regarding calls is still relatively private. We will see how privacy holds out in the future.