Cell phone directory rings alarm bells

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.

Until now, cell phone users, reluctant to be interrupted in their cars or in public with unsolicited calls, could try to protect the privacy of their numbers by being judicious about whom they gave them to. But the directory service, offered by Intelius Inc. of Bellevue, Wash., threatens to take away that privacy.

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.

Intelius claims that it has about half the mobile phones in the country in its database, which means a lot of searches come up as false negatives. An msnbc.com reporter ran searches on several people and came up empty — but he did find his own private cell phone number, albeit with some incorrect information.

A cell phone used by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can also be bought. When a reporter for NBC affiliate KGET of Bakersfield called the number, the person on the other end, who was connected to one of Schwarzenegger’s private businesses, expressed concern about how easy it was to obtain the private number.

So did one of the nation’s largest wireless carriers.

How to opt out 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.

Verizon Wireless, which helped shoot down plans for a wireless directory as a “dumb idea,” said in a statement that it would take whetever 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.”

Send a fax to be removed
Trisha Ebner of San Francisco also didn’t like the idea that anyone might be able to get her number without her knowledge.

“That seems kind of ridiculous,” she said. “I think you should have to opt in rather than opting out.”

Intelius, however, does not make it easy to opt out of the service. There is no form on the company’s Web site, which says users must send in a fax with proof of identity.

Nor will it tell you whether you are in the database. To find that out, you have to be prepared to shell out the $14.95 to search for your number, although the company says there’s no charge if the search fails.

“Intelius requires people to use the mail, to fax requests, to make copies of driver’s licenses and other things,” said Joseph Ridout, consumer services manager of the advocacy group Consumer Action. “It’s clearly an attempt to drag their feet and discourage as many opt-outs as possible.”

Intelius is led by Naveen Jain, who founded Infospace Inc. before paying a multimillion-dollar settlement in connection with allegations of insider trading. The cell phone database has been live for a few months, but its privacy implications took on added urgency this month when the company filed for a $144 million initial public offering.

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