If you thought your cellphone number was safe, think again. Intellus just launched the first ever online cellphone directory. Oh, you never gave them permission, they went ahead and scraped the internet, bought lists from data resellers and deployed data mining techniques.
“Stop it. This is a violation of Americans’ privacy. People expect their cell phone numbers to remain private,” said Steve Zipperstein, vice president and general counsel of Verizon Wireless in a press release. Verizon said it would take whatever steps necessary to stop this new service.
But we may not have to worry too much, the quality of their data is questionable. RCR Wireless News tested out the service and asked for the cellphone numbers of Barack Obama and the president of Verizon Wireless. The service provide seventeen numbers but none were right, and in Obama’s case, one of them was for the Cook County jail.
Consumers interested in getting off the list can fax Intelius a removal request letter along with a proof of identity, such as a driver’s license, to 425-974-6194.
Intelius Cell Phone Directory [Official Site]
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So when I forget the number to my new phone I can call them up?
Of course, I checked my own number—I didn’t (read: wouldn’t) bother to pay the $15 to see my name, but the city was wrong. Hope the rest of it’s wrong, too. Glad I have caller ID.
This site has been around for years. It’s basically a trace-skipping tool used by creditors that has branched out to a broader audience. You can actually get a LOT more info then just cell phone info if you are willing to pay the extra cash.
I was under the mistaken idea apparently that it was illegal in the US to solicit to a cellphone number no matter what.
I know it certainly used to be, when did this change?
how do we opt out? Isn’t personal information personal property?
Burn their servers and march the employees into the sea.
Ben, you have the company name tagged and spelled incorrectly in the article as “Intellus”, when it is in fact “Intelius” (which you got right on the headline and link).
I hate that my info might be in there, but I have to say, My partner used Intelius a while ago to track down a deadbeat whom he had contracted to make something for him and then disappeared. He stopped answering emails, had no home phone number and his website doesn’t list an address. Even a whois on his domain registry lists bogus info. (apparently we were not the first ones to try to track him down). With the Intelius info we were able to locate him, get his current address and phone number and lodge a complaint with the BBB. My partner got what he ordered in the long run and everyone was reasonably happy.
I heard about a website recently that promised to spam any site you wanted… I can’t think of the name of it now, which means I’ll do a little digging and let you guys know… For your own use, of course…
My cell phone was listed with correct city – but then again I’ve had it for six years and it’s my only phone… I’m not about to pay $15 to see my own name and cell phone #..
@EchoMatrix – personal information has yet to be considered personal property. IANAL, but in most cases it’s been considered legitimate business if they had your information and they hadn’t been asked to stop (Do Not Call list, a written or e-mailed request to stop, etc.)
I wonder how serious Verizon is about shutting these guys down (or at least not giving out cell phone numbers)… If they’re for real, it might be nice to have a corporate behemoth on our side.
I searched for myself in two different cities (different physical and mailing addresses) and neither came up. I wonder if it matters who your carrier is or how you use your phone (for example, maybe you only have a cell phone, no land line.)
Not that I’m complaining. Although caller ID is a great thing and I don’t answer calls from strangers.
Er, yeah. The stuff they have on me on there is outdated by a few years. Even so, I want my shit off of there. Where’s the ‘remove me from your database please’ button?
I work for a telephone company and fielded a call from an irate customer who thought that we sold the data. I actually called them, and they said that most of the data they get doesn’t come from the service providers themselves, but often from public records, and that you can get your information out of their data base, but you have to send them a letter I believe. That conversation was a long time ago, so I may be amiss on some of the details.
I searched for myself, and it said that my carrier is from Verizon, not T-Mobile.
Typical directory. I wouldn’t trust this if I were you.
Hopefully they can die in a fire. My name doesn’t need to be on any more lists…
jesus christ!! they list my mother’s maiden name, and will sell someone my date of birth, my college apt and mom’s address and phone number!! wtf, how is this shit legal???
searched my skype and grand central numbers, and came up empty. good to know.
“Unlisted phone number” fee for cell phones, here we come!
What the heck? These guys need to be sued DRY! This is the worst.
next thing we know, it will be perfectly acceptable and for others to stare at you naked, Europe is already started the fad
@EchoMatrix
Opt-Out: [www.privacyrights.org]
Hmmmm, I wonder if Verizon will actually do anything about this. I’m hoping there’s a lawsuit I can jump on!
It lists my Cell as residential. Ha Ha.
Great, does this mean the creditors looking for the former owner of my number are going to renew their efforts?
If we ever find out everything about the connections between Obama & Rezko, Obama’s phone number just might be that of the Cook County Jail!
So wait, you have to give them your drivers license number to get off this list so that they can then add you to another with the license info.
Nice scam by them.
The quality of their service is questionable but it is still enough to keep debt collectors calling me about delinquent debts incurred by someone with a similar name.
It listed my name and indicated it had my number 11 times. My carrier is Ameritech I wonder if they rolled over for the FBI/NSA/CIA so I guess they’ll do it for Intelius for $$$. As mentioned above I’m not about to pay them to see my own number but I will make the leap and guess that they culled it from somewhere. Caveat emptor
@LionelEHutz:
that’s what i’m thinking too. although on their website they request something else:
“To opt out your publicly available information from being obtained by someone using our People Search
service, fax or mail your name and address as it appears on our website or send us a copy of the page from our website that includes your information.”
no other instruction than that, and i’d imagine that fax empties into a nice round black bin.
@protest: After it’s verified for accuracy, natch.
Dang I have 24, I’m not paying but it seems they have every cell carrier phone I’ve every had listed. At least now I’m prepaid under a false name.
How is this at all legal? It looks like they have my info, although I won’t pay b/c I have a very common name. This is very scary. Why isn’t there a government list where we can request removal? I’m not about to trust my driver’s license to these people.
All this stuff is already on the internet. This company has only collected it into one database. Anybody with a phone and some google skills can get all this info anyways. Don’t willingly let your info get on the internet and you should be fairly protected. You can find a boat load of emails and addresses, names, numbers, etc just searching resumes online.
One skill I luckily learned early in life is to never give your phone number to any company. If they want to get a hold of me, they can mail me. When they force a number from me, its fake. My bank and CC company don’t even know my number. My work knows it but that’s about it! I’ve never had any issues because of that, other then perhaps forgetting which fake number I gave.
Would you trust those folks with your driver’s license? I wouldn’t.
Yesterday was Data Privacy Day 2008. There was not a single mention of it anywhere in Congress, and Congress has done zilch to enact meaningful privacy protections. As long as Congress continues to sit on its hands, data miners like these will continue to operate.
you think thats creepy… check out http://www.zabbasearch.com
It’s not entirely sourced from the internets. They get the data from businesses, like pizza delivery companies, and any other business to which you voluntarily provide your phone number at the register.
And verizon only cares about this because it undermines their business model of allowing individuals to publish, for a fee, their cell phone numbers in the yellow pages (plumbers, etc, want their wireless # in there).
LOL, after you’ve done the initial search for a number, they offer a “$10 cash back special offer available to all new customers after completing the purchase”.
Maybe another Web Loyalty “Shopper Discount” in action?
They claimed they ‘found’ my cell number but it was listed under another city not even close to me. I’m safe for now I guess.
Well, looks like they have me totally right, from what I can see. Great. And how do I trust they’ll do the right thing if I have to send them a copy of my driver’s license? Geez, why don’t I send a copy of my social security card while I’m at it?
They got me, although its my college and parents phone numbers…
When I looked it up with my cell number it had the wrong city.
Still, I’m glad I put my cell number on the do-not-call list!
Publicly available info? Fuck that. Find the addresses and phone numbers of every fuckhat working for this company and post them in the open somewhere. Maybe they’ll get the message, maybe not, but one thing for certain: the non-stop hilarity!!
protest: Kinda makes you wonder about the banks that still think SSN, DOB and maiden name is a good security measure.
When I send the fax, can I request a percentage of whatever they have earned on my number be sent as well?
That is how it SHOULD work.
this is insane. I searched my name and it knew both my brothers’ names and both my parents’ names… first middle and last!
Most of the info in the $49 package though is public information and I can get it for free.
[zabasearch.com] gives you some of this information for free.
Geez, Intelius really is super creepy now.
Guys, if you read the privacyrights.org link above, the Intelius listing specifically says that you can cross out the driver’s license number and photo before faxing it in. Essentially all they’d see is your name, DOB and address as proof of identity. Which is still not all that cool, but they probably have that info.
My listings on there are several years out of date. Interesting, because I bought a house in that time, which is a matter of public record, so you’d think they’d have my current address. (Every skeezy subprime mortgage lender sure knows my address, and sends me all kinds of skeezy mortgage offers. Although they’ve dropped off considerably in the past year, come to think of it. Silver lining to the subprime crisis?)
Having a very common name is both a blessing and a curse these days. fname+lname+state -> 319 hits for me, no phone.
@mamacat49: Same here. Not even close, in my case. (phew)
you can search for people by ssn…weird